Mexico eliminates Australia in LLWS Int'l bracket

The stakes are high at the Little League World Series on Monday, with five games on the schedule and each of them determining an elimination.

The first game of the day came in the consolation bracket, with the Caribbean (Los Bravos de Pontezuela Little League from Santiago, D.R.) squaring off against against the Northwest (Wilshire-Riverside Little League in Oregon).

After that, all games remain in their respective brackets, with Mexico-Australia at 2 p.m. ET, Southeast-Great Lakes at 4 p.m., Asia/Pacific-Europe/Africa at 6 p.m. and West-New England at 8 p.m.

Below are game-by-game results and must-see plays:

GAME 1
Caribbean (Los Bravos de Pontezuela Little League, Dominican Republic): 7
Northwest (Wilshire-Riverside Little League, Oregon): 3
With both teams looking for their first victory of the tournament, the Caribbean squad got a solo home run from Emmanuel Rodriguez on the second pitch of the bottom of the first and never looked back. A six-hit, four-run second opened the floodgates. Rodriguez finished the day 4-for-4 with two homers, three runs and three RBIs in the leadoff spot.

NOTABLE PERFORMERS
Nolan Miga and Kyle Oslund provided some pop from the bottom of the Northwest lineup, as Miga went yard in the fourth inning, and Oslund went 2-for-3 with a run.

Jose Marte struck out six in 3 2/3 innings for the Caribbean squad.

MUST-SEE PLAYS
Rodriguez led off the bottom of the first with the first of his two home runs on the day.

GAME 2
Mexico (Seguro Social Little League): 14
Australia (Cronulla Little League): 3
Mexico scored nine runs before even taking the field and cruised in this International bracket elimination game that ended early because of the mercy rule.

NOTABLE PERFORMERS
Mexico leadoff hitter Jorge Armenta led the way with three hits (including one home run), three runs and four RBIs. Alberto Bustos and Damian Garcia also went yard.

Australia cleanup hitter Blake Cavill had two hits and an RBI in the losing effort.

MUST-SEE PLAYS
Armenta teed off for a two-run homer in the third to extend Mexico's lead to 13-3 at the time.

GAME 3
Great Lakes (Bowling Green Eastern Little League, Kentucky): 4
Southeast (Northwood Little League, South Carolina): 3
Kentucky jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning, but South Carolina chipped away before eventually knotting the game at 3 in the fourth inning. The comeback would prove to be for naught, however, as Kentucky pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the fifth en route to eliminating South Carolina.

NOTABLE PERFORMERS
Kentucky's Eli Burwash led off the bottom of the first with a home run for Great Lakes and later doubled then came around to score what proved to be the game-winning run in the fifth. Burwash finished the day 2-for-3 at the plate, but he also entered to pitch the final inning and tossed a scoreless frame with two strikeouts to lock down the win.

Braden Golinski accounted for half of South Carolina's four hits, going 2-for-3 with a home run.

MUST-SEE PLAYS
Burwash crushed an 0-2 pitch over the left-field wall to lead off the bottom of the first inning.

Kentucky pitcher Terrence Gist showed off his reflexes in snagging a line drive back to the mound in the third inning.

GAME 4
Chinese Taipei: 5
Uganda: 0
Chinese Taipei jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning, which proved to be more than enough for starter Wei Hung Chou, who turned in one of the tournament's best pitching performances yet. Chou struck out 14 of the 20 batters he faced en route to tossing a one-hit shutout.

NOTABLE PERFORMERS
Chou not only stole the show with his dominant pitching performance, but he also went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. Cheng Yu Yang added a double and two runs of his own out of the leadoff spot.

MUST-SEE PLAYS
Uganda shortstop Joshua Olara turned a heads-up 6-3 double play to help his club escape a bases-loaded jam in the second inning.

GAME 5
West (Sweetwater Valley Little League, California): 10
New England (Cranston Western Little League, Rhode Island): 3
Rhode Island jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, but California took control of the game behind a six-run third inning, capped by a Jacob Baptista grand slam. California pushed across a pair early in the third to even the score before Baptista snapped the tie with a grand slam that put his club ahead for good en route to eliminating Rhode Island.

NOTABLE PERFORMERS
Baptista finished his big day 2-for-4 with four RBIs, but he had plenty of help. Walker Lannom and Dante Schmid helped seal the victory by each connecting for homers of their own in the sixth inning.

Rhode Island also added to the power display, as Caleb Harris and David Marchetti each homered in the losing effort.

What's next
Mexico and Chinese Taipei return to action at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday in another elimination game in the International bracket, while Kentucky and California will do the same at 8 p.m. ET on the United States side of the bracket.