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Bronx bombed Florida pounds New York, will face Japan for LLWS title
Updated: Saturday August 25, 2001 11:00 PM
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) -- Brandon Brewer kept the emphasis on "little" in the Little League World Series. Brewer -- all 4-foot-10, 81 pounds of him -- hit a three-run homer and Apopka, Fla., defeated the Rolando Paulino team from the Bronx, N.Y., 8-2 in the U.S. championship game Saturday. Brewer hit the first pitch he saw in the third inning over the center-field wall for his second home run of the tournament, bringing home Tyler Scanlon and Stuart Tapley and giving Florida a 3-1 lead. The outfield wall at Howard J. Lamade stadium is 205 feet. "I just try to hit the ball hard every time I'm up to bat. I guess I hit that one pretty good," Brewer said. "It hit it flush on the barrel." Scanlon followed with another three-run shot - his first hit of the tournament - in the fourth inning, a 240-foot fly over the left field wall that scored Ryan Markell and Jeff Lovejoy and put Florida up 6-1. "I hadn't been hitting well for the entire series," Scanlon said. "It really feels good. I just about had a heart attack." Tapley (2-1) got the win, striking out 12 and avenging an earlier loss to the Bronx. Luilli Vinas (1-1) took the loss. In their previous meeting, Tapley came out nervous, loading the bases and walking in the first run before giving up a grand slam in the first inning. After that, he allowed only one hit that game. "I think he's thrown the ball pretty consistently for us ever since we started this run," said Apopka coach Ken Tapley, Stuart's father. Apopka (4-1) will play Japan in Sunday night's championship game. Weather permitting, the Bronx will play the Netherlands Antilles in a consolation game Sunday afternoon. A week ago, Bronx beat Apopka 5-0 in pool play in the first game of the tournament for both teams. Danny Almonte threw a perfect game that day with 16 strikeouts, including the first 15 Apopka batters. But Almonte couldn't pitch Saturday -- Little League rules prohibit pitchers from throwing consecutive games in the tournament -- and Vinas was vulnerable. Before Brewer's go-ahead run, Tapley hit a third-inning double to right field that bounced high off the wall. Will Blankenship, who has four home runs in the tournament, also hit a ball to the warning track in the third. "When their big kid isn't on the mound, it becomes a completely different ballgame," Ken Tapley said. Vinas gave up five hits and two walks before being relieved by Rolando Torres in the fifth inning. "I turned to Vinas because he has a good, hard fastball and a good curveball, but he didn't have it," Bronx manager Alberto Gonzalez said. "He had it for two innings." The Bronx closed to 8-2 in the fifth when Reynaldo Guava scored on a wild pitch, but Tapley had three strikeouts -- two with the bases loaded -- to end the inning, then followed with three more strikeouts in the sixth. Andrew Cobb hit a sacrifice fly off Torres in the top of the fifth that scored Justin Lafavers, and Blankenship scored on a fielding error, putting Apopka up 8-1. "I knew they had a great team, and I knew we'd have to score more runs," Gonzalez said. "We knew we'd have to score a few runs, and [Vinas'] curveball wasn't as sharp as it could be," Gonzales said. "They're great hitters." Japan 2, Netherlands Antilles 1Atsushi Mochizuki hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth that ended the game. Facing a 2-0 count, Mochizuki shot the ball 240 feet -- the outfield wall at Howard J. Lamade Stadium is 205 feet -- to center field. Yousuki Nomura reached base earlier on a swinging bunt. Nomura (1-0) got the win, entering the game in the sixth and retiring all three batters, including a strikeout for the final out. Erick Rafael (1-2) took the loss.
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