SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Danny Leon hit a two-run homer, and Tyler Carp and John Lister added homers to lead Conejo Valley Little League to a 9-2 victory over Morganton, N.C., on Sunday in the Little League World Series.
"I think I was a little pumped up. I was ready to hit the ball," Leon said. "And John and Tyler just hit it far."
Conejo Valley (1-0) was the last team to take the field at this year's World Series, but once the team from Thousand Oaks, Calif., got started, it was hard to stop. The team's opener against Lincoln, R.I., was postponed because of rain Friday, so three teams had already completed their second games.
But the runs came quickly. California batted around in the third inning to take a 6-0 lead. Leon's shot to centerfield and Lister's run-scoring double made it 3-0. Jordan Brower scored on a passed ball, and Lister came home on a fielder's choice. Derrick Francis capped the inning with a run-scoring double.
North Carolina dropped to 1-1.
TEXAS 12, KENTUCKY 2 (5): Cody Abraham hit a three-run homer, and Randal Grichuk hit his third homer of the series for Lamar National of Richmond (2-0).
Meghan Sims became just the second U.S. girl, and the third overall, to pitch in the series when she took the mound for Owensboro Southern (0-2). Kentucky trailed 10-2 when she took the mound; she walked one, then allowed Grichuk's home run, forcing the mercy-rule ending.
PANAMA 9, POLAND 0: Francisco Chiari pitched a no-hitter for Panama City (2-0), but missed his perfect game in the fifth when he walked Adrian Florczak of Kutno. Poland, playing in its first series, fell to 0-2. It was the second no-hitter of this series and the seventh since the series expanded to 16 teams in 2001.
MEXICO 1, SAUDI ARABIA 0, (8): Oscar Garza hit a home run on the first pitch of the eighth to give Guadalupe (1-1) the win. Dhahran fell to 1-1.
WASHINGTON 8, MARYLAND 3: Stephen Thompson hit a three-run homer in the fifth to lift Redmond (1-1). Preston (1-1) led 3-0 at the end of the third.
