SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Jeremy Lopez urged his cousin Javier to join his Little League team this summer. Good thing he did, because the two make a potent pair for Harlem, N.Y.
Jeremy Lopez hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and Javier hit a two-run homer as Harlem beat Southwest Forsyth of Clemmons, N.C., 9-3 Saturday in the opening game for both teams at the Little League World Series.
Leading off in the third inning, Jeremy Lopez sent the first pitch over the wall in center field to give Harlem a 3-0 lead. In the fourth, he hit a pitch over the wall in left.
"The first home run, he just hung a fastball on the outside corner, so I just swung away," Jeremy said. "The second home run, he threw a curve ball and I just drove it."
Jeremy was 3-for-3 with a walk. He singled to lead off the sixth and scored when cousin Javier hit a 240-foot home run to the hedge behind the center-field wall. Andrew Diaz added a two-run homer.
"This was beyond my expectations today in terms of how the bats were working," said Harlem manager Morris McWilliams. "The bats just came alive."
VENEZUELA 11, GUAM 1:Gerson Montilla hit a solo home run and a two-run double to lead Venezuela to the five-inning victory.
KENTUCKY 4, CALIFORNIA 1: Zachary Osborne hit two home runs and Aaron Alvey added a third for Kentucky. Osborne's two-run shot in the third inning brought home Wesley Jenkins and gave Kentucky a 2-1 lead. His second homer came in the fifth inning.
California scored in the first when Drew McCauley walked and came home on Andrew Biancardi's double.
JAPAN 7, RUSSIA 0: Yoosuke Katoh hit two home runs and Tatsuhiko Numakura hit one for Japan.
Yoshinori Satoh pitched a no-hitter, with 10 strikeouts and two walks for Japan.
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES 10, MEXICO 1: Dennis Neuman pitched a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts, and had an RBI single in a six-run fifth inning for Curacao, Netherlands Antilles.
Dany Walle hit an RBI double in the fifth inning as Netherlands Antilles sent 10 batters to the plate to break a 1-1 tie.