SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — 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."
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 or Netherlands Antilles in Sunday night's championship game. 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.