The 66th Little League World Series got underway with Japan playing againt Curacao in the first game of the series. Japan came out strong defeating the “Boys of Summer” with a score of 7-0.
According to the manager of the Caribbean team Edmiro Chirino, “the kids were a little bit nervous being their first game at the Little League World Series.” Chirino continues saying, “that despite the nervousness of his team, the Japanese team did some pretty good hitting against the star pitcher of Curacao, Christopher Koeiman.”
Koeiman pitched 1-plus innings permitted six hits and six runs while striking out one.
According to Chirino, “we could’ve rallied back against Japan but their pitching was really good, we weren’t making contact with outside pitches.”
The Japanese pitchers, Kotaro Kiyomiya and Noriatsu Osaka combined for a two-hit shutout. Kiyomiya didn’t allow a hit and struck out seven over 2-plus innings. Osaka finished on the mound in relief with seven strikeouts.