2008 Little League World Series

The 2008 Little League World Series was the 4th Little League World Series in a row won by a team from the USA. The teams qualified by winning one of sixteen Region Tournaments. South Dakota made its first appearance in the LLWS in 2008. Waipahu, HI defeated Matamoros, Tamaulipas 12-3 in the championship game.

Participants

United States Teams				International Teams
Region	City	League		Region	City	League
Great Lakes	Jeffersonville, IN	Jeffersonville/GRC Little League		Asia-Pacific	Yona	Southern Guam Little League
Mid-Atlantic	Hagerstown, MD	Hagerstown Federal Little League		Canada	White Rock, BC	White Rock South Surrey Little League
Midwest	Rapid City, SD	Canyon Lake Little League		Caribbean	Willemstad	Pabao Little League
New England	Shelton, CT	Shelton National Little League		Europe	Emilia-Romagna	Emilia Little League
Northwest	Mill Creek, WA	Mill Creek Little League		Japan	Tokyo	Edogawa Minami Little League
Southeast	Tampa, FL	Citrus Park Little League		Latin America	Maracaibo	Coquivacoa Little League
Southwest	Lake Charles, LA	South Lake Charles Little League		Mexico	Matamoros	Matamoros Little League
West	Waipahu, HI	Waipio Little League		Middle East-Africa	Dhahran	Arabian American Little League

Results

August 15

• Tampa, FL 10, Rapid City, SD 0. Three Tampa hurlers combine on a no-hitter reduced to four innings by the mercy rule. Rapid City did load the bases at one points. Rapid City became the first South Dakotan team to play in a Little League World Series.
• Maracaibo, Zulia 8, White Rock, BC 1. Gustavo Perdomo has 3 hits and 3 RBI in an easy opening win for Venezuela.
• Waipahu, HI 3, Shelton, CT 1. Christian Donahue singles, advances on a passed ball, stole third and scored on a wild pitch in the fourth inning for the winning run. Caleb Duley got the win for Waipahu.

August 16

• Hagerstown, MD 3, Jeffersonville, IN 2. Drew Ellis threw a no-hitter but lost thanks to a walk and error in the first and a hit batsman, walk and 4 wild pitches in the 5th. Ellis whiffed 11.
• Matamoros, Tamaulipas 6, Willemstad 2.
• Yona 7, Emilia-Romagna 6. Guam scores twice in the bottom of the 6th to rally in beating the Italians.
• Shelton, CT 9, Rapid City, SD 4.
• Tokyo 5, Dhahran 0. Chris Beyers gets the only hit for Dhahran.
• Lake Charles, LA 5, Mill Creek, WA 1. Kennon Fontenot struck out 15 and tripled and singled to help Louisiana to victory.

August 17

• Matamoros, Tamaulipas 12, Emilia-Romagna 0. Jesus Saucedo throws the first perfect game in a Little League World Series in 29 years, the 5th ever and the second ever by a Mexican hurler. He also goes 3 for 3 in a grand slam in a game shortened to four innings by the mercy rule. Saucedo strikes out all 12 Italian hitters.
• Tokyo 9, White Rock, BC 3. Takumni Ozeki whiffs 8 and hits a 2-run homer.
• Lake Charles, LA 9, Jeffersonville, IN 0. Trey Quinn strikes out 12 in a no-hitter, one of two on the day.
• Maracaibo, Zulia 12, Dhahran 0. Aroldo Sanchez allowes no runs in four and gets 3 hits and 3 RBI in the win.
• Waipahu, HI 4, Tampa, FL 2. Pikai Winchester drives in 3 and Tanner Tokunaga cracks a grand slam.

August 18

• Mill Creek, WA 15, Hagerstown, MD 5.
• Matamoros, Tamaulipas 10, Yona 0.
• Waipahu, HI 6, Rapid City, SD 4.
• Willemstad 14, Emilia-Romagna 1.
• Tampa, FL 8, Shelton, CT 2.

August 19

• Mill Creek, WA 3, Jeffersonville, IN 2. Alex Jondal singles home Jason Todd with 2 outs in the bottom of the 7th to keep the Mill Creek team's hopes alive.
• Hagerstown, MD 6, Lake Charles, LA 4. Despite winning, Hagerstown fails to advance to the semifinals due to a tiebreaker with Louisiana and Washington.
• White Rock, BC 7, Dhahran 5. Jake Hagen and Eric Watkins homer back-to-back in the 5th as part of a 5-run inning to give Canada the win.
• Willemstad 3, Yona 0. Tivon Faneyte allows no hits in five innings and drives in one to lead Curacao to a victory and move on to the semifinals.
• Tokyo 5, Maracaibo, Zulia 4. Tokyo scores twice in the 7th to edge out Venezuela; Yutaka Takeshita drives in the winner with a sacrifice fly.

August 20

• Tokyo 11, Willemstad 4.
• Waipahu, HI 9, Mill Creek, WA 4.

August 21

• Lake Charles, LA 6, Tampa, FL 1. Bryce Jordan homers and his brother Beau Jordan doubles in a run to help Louisiana advance to the final four.
• Matamoros, Tamaulipas 5, Maracaibo, Zulia 2. Mexico beats Venezuela to move on to the final four.

August 23

• Matamoros, Tamaulipas 5, Tokyo 4. Sergio Rodriguez homered as part of a 5-run third as Mexico tops Japan to advance to the finals.
• Waipahu, HI 7, Lake Charles, LA 5. Lake Charles led 5-1 after 5 but Hawaii rallied. 1B Gunner Leger lost track of a grounder by Christian Donahue, allowing Caleb Duhay to score the tying run. With two outs in the 6th, Tanner Tokunaga hit a 2-run double for the winning blow. Christian is the son of the team's coach, former minor leaguer Tim Donahue.

August 24

• Tokyo 4, Lake Charles, LA 3. In the consolation game, each team scores 3 in the first. It is scoreless until the 5th. Peyton McLemore walks Tsuyoki Setoguchi to open the 5th and RP Kennon Fontenot walks two more to load the bases. A wild pitch then scores Setoguchi with the winner.
• Waipahu, HI 12, Matamoros, Tamaulipas 3. Tanner Tokunaga homers twice and Iolana Akau once as Hawaii routs Mexico. Hawaii scores twice on passed balls and once on a bases-loaded walk. A US team wins the LLWS for the fourth time in a row.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
		Tokyo	11
		Willemstad	4
							Tokyo	4
							Matamoros	5
		Matamoros	5
		Maracaibo	2
												Matamoros	3
												Waipahu, HI	12
		Waipahu, HI	9
		Mill Creek, WA	4
							Waipahu, HI	7
							Lake Charles, LA	5
		Lake Charles, LA	6
		Tampa, FL	1

Source: Associated Press wire reports as printed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette