Just six teams remain standing in South Williamsport

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, PA(WBRE/WYOU)— The Little League World Series is down to just a half dozen teams remaining after play on Thursday in South Williamsport. Two teams have punched its tickets to championship weekend. Four more teams will take the diamond on Thursday in win-or-go-home games.

The Mountain Region champs out of Henderson, Nevada clinched the first of two spots in the U.S. Championship game. Henderson led 5-0 after five innings. The Mountain region winners then put up nine runs in the top of the final frame to take 14-0 lead with 3 outs remaining. The Mid-West champs scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the comeback efforts fell short as the team from Davenport lost 14-6.

The Mountain champs will play again on Saturday in the U.S. Championship game at 3:30pm. The Mid-West Region winner will now move to the elimination bracket to face the team from the Great Lakes.

The 12-year-old champs from Hamilton, Ohio were winners in the nightcap at Lamade Stadium 11-2 over the Southeast squad. The Great Lakes Region winners scored four runs in the first inning, three runs in the third inning, and another four runs in the sixth to run away with the elimination bracket semifinal game. Phenix City, Alabama's Kinley Ramsus was held without a hit in the game. She finished the night 0-for-1 with a walk.

Across the park at Volunteer Stadium, Curacao continued it's dominating run through the international bracket. Curacao put up a ten spot in the second inning, as they won 12-3 over Latin America. Curacao moves onto the international championship on Saturday. First pitch at Volunteer Stadium for that game is at 12:30pm.

Latin America's hopes now shift to Thursday morning in South Williamsport. The team from Nicaragua will match up with the boys from Tokyo, Japan. The Japanese region winners were also victorious on Wednesday. Japan defeated Canada 7-3 thanks to seven runs in the second and third innings combined.

Both elimination bracket finals games will start on Thursday at 9:00am. The Mid-West vs. Great Lakes matchup will be at Lamade Stadium. Latin America and Japan will be at Volunteer.

The U.S. and International Championship Games will be held on Saturday, August 29th.