Tennesse team to face Tokyo in Little League World Series final

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- Tennessee players threw their gloves in the air as they converged near third base before falling to the ground with big smiles.

They had given up a 10-run lead in the bottom of the sixth, allowing the final four runs after two were out -- and responded by scoring nine in the top of the seventh.

Tennessee's 24-16 victory over Petaluma, Calif., yesterday will be remembered back home for a long time -- and not just because it earned Goodlettsville's favorite sons a berth in the Little League World Series championship game.

"I can't believe it," Tennessee manager Joey Hale said after the United States championship game. "I tell people this is like Christmas on steroids and I'm having a blast."

Tennessee will face Japan today for the title. The team from Tokyo beat Aguadulce, Panama, 10-2, in the international final. Japan hit five homers, including two by 6-foot Kotaro Kiyomiya. Japan won the international bracket five times in the previous seven years but won the title game only once during that span, in 2010.

Only California's 10-run comeback to send the game into extra innings in a 15-15 tie could overshadow Tennessee slugger Lorenzo Butler's extraordinary day at the plate. Butler set a single-game record with nine RBIs and tied a record with three homers, all of them three-run shots. His final one made it 15-5 in the sixth.

Butler had such a big day at the plate that at one point, his name was a trending topic on Twitter. After each blast, Butler looked calm in the dugout, seeming as collected as a big-league hitter in a tense playoff game. "Yes sir, first time I hit three homers," the 12-year-old slugger said.

California's Cole Tomei had a two-run double in the sixth, and with two outs, Bradley Smith doubled home a run, Kempton Brandis hit a two-run homer on an 0-and-2 pitch and Hance Smith homered on an 0-and-2 pitch to tie the score at 15. "The message will be you never gave up," said Hance's father, California manager Eric Smith. "All we've asked of them all year was their best effort. I never saw them quit and I never saw them think they were out of it."

Brock Myers (four hits, four RBIs) doubled home two runs and scored on Luke Brown's single to start the seventh for Tennessee. With two outs, Jake Rucker had an RBI double and Jayson Brown hit a two-run homer.

A game-ending strikeout set off a wild celebration. "I finally get to rest," Tennessee catcher Cole Carter said. "My legs were killing me after catching seven innings." -- AP