Latin America 8 Canada 0
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Yonny Hernandez hit two home runs and Neil Prieto also went deep Sunday as Latin American defeated Canada 8-0 at the Little League World Series.
Two Canadian errors — one with the bases loaded — and some heads-up base running led to three runs for Venezuela in the third inning.
“Venezuela has a terrific club,” said Canadian assistant coach Rick Burns. “We made a couple of errors ... when we make errors, they capitalized on it.”
Leading 3-0 in the fifth, Hernandez belted a two-run homer and Prieto followed that up with a solo shot as Latin America doubled its lead in the blink of an eye.
Hernandez then blasted another two-run home run in the sixth to stretch the Latin American advantage to 8-0.
Hernandez finished the day 3-for-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored. The 13-year-old slugger has five hits and six RBIs in two games at the World Series. Prieto wound up 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI for Latin America (2-0).
Jothson Flores worked 3 2-3 innings for the victory.
Outside of Hernandez and Prieto, Latin American was held to just two hits.
“We held them back pretty well for the first four innings,” Burns said. “They had the size and the power. Perhaps our pitcher needed to be pulled a little sooner.”
Canada’s Yi-Fan Pan gave up six runs — three earned — over four innings.
Ian Burns was the lone bright spot for the Canadian team from Langley, B.C., winding up 2-for-3 on the day.
Canada, which defeated a team from Valleyfield, Que., to advance to the tournament, is in an eight-team international bracket. There is also an eight-team division for teams from the United States.
Double-elimination rules remain until the tournament’s final weekend, with the championship game set for Aug. 28.
A team from Tokyo won the 2010 title, snapping a five-year winning streak for U.S. teams.
Canada will be facing elimination Monday when it takes on Asia-Pacific (1-1).