WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- That's Kazuki with a "K."
Kazuki Sumiyama struck out nine Saturday as Osaka, Japan, beat Phenix City, Ala., 5-0 in the championship game of the Little League World Series.Sumiyama, a soft-spoken 12-year-old whose favorite U.S. player is Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire, struck out three of Phenix City's first four batters and had a total of 19 strikeouts in his two appearances. And he can hit, too, batting .615 in the two wins.
American teams have won only six of the last 20 Little League series.
Only Zach Martin and Cory Rasmus got hits, both singles, off Sumiyama, who throws a fastball and variations his teammates call the "Kazuball" and the "Thunderball." His coaches say he is shy even back home in Osaka and that he is already being recruited by Japanese high schools.
He was not bashful about keeping runners off base. The 5-foot-7, 122-pound Sumiyama, or "Sumi" to his friends, did not allow a run in 11 innings at the series. His father was home in Osaka running the family liquor store Saturday, but his mother made the trip to Williamsport along with seven other parents of team members.
In the second, Kazutoshi Adachi scored the first run of the game from third on catcher Rasmus' throwing error on a steal attempt. Martin threw four straight balls to Adachi to start the inning after getting two strikes on him before about 42,000 fans at Howard J. Lamade Stadium.
Phenix City manager Tony Rasmus, who quit his job as a coach at a private school to stay with the team through the series, had to use Martin, his No. 3 pitcher, after both his son, Colby, and 5-foot-4 curveball specialist Bryan Woodall pitched in the U.S. championship victory over defending champion Tom Rivers, N.J., a game that was stretched over Thursday and Friday by rain.
In the fourth, Osaka got a run on consecutive doubles by Kazunori Morishita and Kazuya Yamasaki, and Yamasaki scored when a low pitch squirted off Rasmus' glove for a 3-0 lead. Osaka had a two-run fifth as well before a crowd that included celebrities such as Tommy John, Kenny Rogers and Brian Sipe.
Fans showered the field with paper plates after the game.
The Hirakata Little League of Osaka, managed by former Hanshin Tigers outfielder Tsutomu Kameyama, became the fourth Japanese team to win the series, joining the Chofu Little League of Tokyo (1976), the Wakayama Little League (1968) and the West Tokyo Little League (1967).
A team from Kashima, Japan, lost 12-9 in last year's championship game to Toms River.