Curacao advances at LLWS with win over Canada

Christopher Koeiman drove in two runs with a tying sacrifice fly, Mychellon Jansen hit a tiebreaking solo homer and Willemstad, Curacao beat Vancouver, British Columbia 4-3 on Monday to advance at the Little League World Series.

Trailing 3-1 entering the fifth, Curacao had runners on second and third when Koeiman hit a fly ball to left with one out. Carter Kada-Wong fell backward to make the catch, but both runners had enough time to score.

Jansen then homered to give Curacao the lead for good.

Reliever Rallison Bentura pitched 2 2-3 scoreless innings to get the win.

"I had the attitude that nobody could hit me," the 12-year-old right-hander said through an interpreter.

Cole Dalla-Zanna was the hard-luck loser for Canada, striking out nine.

"Our pitcher threw unbelievable. I'm not unhappy with the effort, that's for sure," manager Vito Bordignon said.

Canada took a 3-1 lead in the fourth when Noah Hanson-Stafford came off the bench to hit a two-run homer.

Canada was eliminated but Bordignon wants his players to be proud of their showing this year, which included a 13-9 win over formidable Mexico.

Next up for Canada: a little sightseeing in Pennsylvania.

"I just told them they had a great tournament and to keep their heads up," Bordignon said. "They represented Canada well."