Little League World Series down to 4 teams as Venezuela, Florida survive elimination bracket

The Little League World Series is nearing its end, with four teams still in the running in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

The Southeast team from Lake Mary, Florida, defeated the Mountain team in an elimination game Thursday, setting up a rematch with the Southwest team from Boerne, Texas, in the U.S. championship. Later, the Latin America team from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, defeated Japan in a rematch to reach the international championship, in which it will face the Asia-Pacific team from Taoyuan City, Chinese Taipei.

Both games will be played on Saturday, with the four teams competing for a spot in the championship game on Sunday.

The Venezuela win came with some drama, as Japan, which beat Venezuela in the winner's bracket, had the bases loaded with a chance to take the lead in the fourth inning, then had runners on second and third with one out in the sixth. The runner on third went for home on a grounder to shortstop Luis Yepez, who cut him down to keep the lead.

Pitcher Johnson Freitaz got the final out on a fly ball to right-center.

Venezuela will be playing in the country's first international championship since it won the tournament in 2000.

Whichever of Venezuela or Chinese Taipei wins will be trying to buck history in the championship, as no international team has won the title since 2017 (no tournament was held in 2020, and the event was U.S.-only in 2021).