The all-star team from the Torrance Little League will play for a berth in the Little League World Series on Friday, facing its counterpart from the Petaluma National Little League.
The game will begin at noon and will be televised by ESPN. Attendance at Al Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino is limited to the pass holders from the teams playing and the “Friends and Family” pass holders.
Petaluma National lost to the Honolulu Little League all-star team, 13-3, Thursday in a game called in the bottom of the fifth inning because of the mercy rule. The victory assured Honolulu (3-0) of a spot in the Little League World Series.
With the Little League World Series limited to U.S. teams this year because of the coronavirus, each of the top two teams from the eight U.S. regions will advance to the World Series instead of just the champion.
Torrance kept alive its hopes of being the first Los Angeles County team to reach the series since 1994 with an 8-1 victory over the Washington (Utah) Little League all-stars Wednesday in an elimination bracket game in the West Region Tournament in San Bernardino.
Torrance (2-1) combined doubles by Gibson Turner and Andrew Nuruki, a single by Grant Hays and an error for four runs in the first inning.
Hays hit a two-run homer in Torrance’s four-run third inning that increased its lead to 8-0. The other runs scored on a single by Isaac Mora, the No. 9 batter in Torrance’s lineup, and an error.
Turner, Nuruki and Hays each had three hits as Torrance out-hit Washington, 12-3.
The most recent team from Los Angeles County to reach the Little League World Series was the all-star team from the Northridge Little League, which won the U.S. championship with a team that included future USC and NFL quarterback Matt Cassel.