SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Michael Broad and Jacob Irene each homered for Boynton Beach, which never trailed in defeating Richland, Wash., 8-1 in the opening day of the Little League World Series.
Also Friday, Saugus, Mass., beat Tallmadge, Ohio, 2-1 and Tokyo beat Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles 4-1.
Broad's two-run homer made it 2-0 in the first, and Irene made it 5-1 in the second with a three-run homer that just cleared the centerfield wall. Two errors and a passed ball gave Florida its final runs.
Richland's run came in the second when Daniel Jacobs scored on a passed ball.
MASS. 2, OHIO 1: Tyler Grillo had a run-scoring single and Michael Scuzzarella induced a game-ending double play for Saugus.
Trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth, Tallmadge cut the lead to 2-1 on Jake Jamieson's run-scoring single to center.
With runners on first and second, Scuzzarella got Paul Pakan to hit a grounder near second. Shortstop Craig Cole fielded the ball for an easy out at second, and his throw just beat Pakan to first base to end the game.
Scuzzarella allowed only one hit in the first five innings before giving up three in the sixth.
"I knew they weren't going to score two runs because Scuz was pitching the game," Saugus third baseman Sebastiano Petruzzelli said. "He was pitching a gem for us."
Saugus took the lead in the top of the sixth, when Dario Pizzano advanced on David Ferriera's single, then scored when the ball was bobbled in the outfield. Grillo's single scored 6-foot, 182-pound Matthew Muldoon, who was intentionally walked, making it 2-0.
Pizzano helped keep the game scoreless an inning earlier when, with a runner on first, he made a nice running catch of a fly ball by Jake Patrick on the warning track in right-center.
The loss was the first in the international tournament for Tallmadge, the only U.S. team to arrive at the series undefeated. But Tallmadge manager Randy Keen said he thought his team would bounce back.
"I think they'll be fine," Keen said. "We're just happy to be here - there's a million Little Leaguers out there who'd love to be in a 2-1 loss in Williamsport, Pa."
JAPAN 4, NETH. ANTILLES 1: Yuutaro Tanaka struck out 11 and allowed just four hits for Tokyo. Tanaka also had two singles and scored two runs, including the go-ahead run in the fourth.
Trailing 1-0, Tanaka came home on Jun Onozawa's double. Hirofumi Yamazaki's sacrifice bunt scored Onozawa to make it 3-1 in the fourth. Tanaka scored on a passed ball in the sixth for the final run.
Curacao led 1-0 lead in the first when Jonathan Schoop doubled to left and scored on Tharick Martines' single.
