SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- Grant Holman almost gave away a crucial victory with his arm, then took it back with his bat. After being victimized for a three-run homer that put his Chula Vista, Calif., team in a hole on Wednesday night, the tall right-hander hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth, and California rallied for a 6-3 victory over New England champion Westport, Conn., to earn a berth in the U.S. championship game at the Little League World Series. "All I wanted to do was hit it hard," Holman said, his right arm in ice after a 10-strikeout performance and winning reliever Rennard Williams smiling at his side. Micah Pietila-Wiggs laced a one-out single to left, his third hit of the game, to start the ninth and Jake Espinoza followed with a double to right-centre before Holman connected off reliever Alex Reiner. Chula Vistas bullpen came up big, shutting down Westport over the final five innings. "It was fabulous," Chula Vista manager Rick Tibbett said about his relief corps. "Thats what they do." Matt Brown hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth for Connecticut, and the Northeast champions seemed headed for a big victory. But California shortstop Nick Mora hit his second homer of the game to make it 3-2 with one out in the top of the sixth and Chula Vista tied it when Reiner threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded. The victory snapped Connecticuts 20-game winning streak. "Its disappointing, of course, to lose," Westport manager Tim Rogers said. "Its painful to be so close to winning and lose. Obviously, theyre a very talented team. Theres no holes in their lineup whatsoever. Well play tomorrow." Westport plays Northwest champion Sammamish, Wash., on Thursday. Sammamish (3-1) moved on to the matchup in the U.S. bracket by eliminating Nashville, Tenn., 6-5 on Tuesday. Westport was coming off a 9-7 victory over Sammamish on Sunday. Holman pitched 3 2-3 strong innings. Chasing his second no-hitter of the World Series, Holman had struck out nine -- including the first six batters he faced, swinging -- and was cruising when Max Popken drew a leadoff walk to start the fourth. Harry Azadian broke up Holmans no-hit bid with a single to right field and Brown then homered. TOKYO, JAPAN 5, TIJUANA, MEXICO 2 The big bats of Tijuana, Mexico, were silenced by Tokyo, Japan, in the first game Wednesday. When Brandon Montes crushed a home run off Japan starter Kazuki Ishida, the big bats of Mexico seemed ready to rumble again. "I definitely felt chills," Ishida said. "But I made sure to keep my composure and keep on throwing." And hitting. Taken out after three innings with an eye on a future game, Ishida slammed a tie-breaking home run in the bottom of the fifth inning and unbeaten Tokyo rallied past powerful Tijuana 5-2 on Wednesday to earn a berth in the international championship game at the Little League World Series. Westport, Conn., faced powerful Chula Vista, Calif., under the lights in Wednesdays other game in the double-elimination tournament. Ishidas blast came off Tijuana starter Ramon Mendoza. Kouyou Mizushima followed with an RBI single and pinch-hitter Kyousuke Kobayashi capped the winning rally for Japan (3-0) with an RBI double off the left-centre field wall. "Im glad that we won. Everybodys starting to get their groove back," said Seiya Nishino, whose pinch-hit home run tied it at 2 in the fourth. Mexico (2-1) still has a shot. It will play Aguadulce, Panama, on Thursday in a rematch. Mendoza hit two of Tijuanas five home runs in a 13-0 four-inning win over Panama on Sunday in the winners bracket. That game was stopped because of Little Leagues 10-run rule, the second time Mexico had done that in the World Series. Not on this day, though. Ishida and winning reliever Ryutarro Takeo kept the Mexican players off-balance with a variety of off-speed pitches, never allowing the Tijuana offence to get untracked. Mexico, which also beat Perth, Australia, 12-0 in 4 innings last week, managed just five hits against Japan. "They handle their pitchers well," Tijuana manager Francisco Fimbres said. "They paint the corners, a lot of breaking balls down low. Ill have to congratulate Japans pitchers. The first two games we hit great. It might have been a little bit of nervousness with the importance of the game." Mexico took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Axcel Mandujano reached on an error by third baseman Shunpei Takagi, who bobbled Mandujanos bouncer and threw wide of first as the Mexican player ducked under the tag. The call stood as ruled after a challenge by Japan, and after Jorge Romero bounced into a fielders choice, eliminating pinch-runner Luis Manzo, left-handed hitting shortstop Jorge Rodriguez doubled down the left-field line over the outstretched glove of Kobayashi to score Romero from first. Japan evened the score in the bottom of the second. Kouyou Mizushima had a hustling double to right centre and scored on a two-out single up the middle by Ryusei Hirooka. Montes, who homered on the fifth pitch of the game in Mexicos rout of Panama, struck again in the top of the third. He slammed an 0-1 delivery well over the fence in left-centre for a 2-1 lead. Mendoza got out of a big jam in the bottom of the inning as his pitch count mounted. He walked Ishida to start the inning and Sho Miyao followed with an infield single that caromed off Mendozas glove. That gave Japan two men on and nobody out, but first baseman Jorge Rodriguez robbed Shunpei Takagi with a beautiful stop behind the bag as the runners moved into scoring position and Mendoza induced two weak popups to escape. Mendoza ran out of luck in the bottom of the fourth when Nishino crushed a 1-0 pitch far over the fence in centre to tie it again. Anthony Rendon Nationals Jersey . 1-9 on TSN. With more than 65 hours of exclusive live coverage, TSN delivers all the action beginning with Draw 1 on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p. Ryan Zimmerman Nationals Jersey . With the Nets winning streak in jeopardy, Williams scored 23 points, 11 in the final six minutes, to lead Brooklyn to a 104-99 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. https://www.cheapnationals.com/1327r-tan...-nationals.html. Many of those eyes are in the United States of America, a country that the sport has wanted on its side for some time. On Sunday the football Gods delivered once again, only this time it was time for good old USA to experience as much heartache as joy. Raudy Read Nationals Jersey . 2015 Oscar nomination pending. Here is an open letter from Steven Stamkos to his fans: When I shot this final Moment Zero film last August, it was a fun few days on set with Coke Zero and Jordan Eberle in my hometown of Markham. Matt Adams Jersey . The 49ers announced the deal Thursday. San Francisco selected Kilgore in the fifth round of the 2011 draft out of Appalachian State. He has played in 33 regular-season games, plus all six playoff games the last two seasons.CLEVELAND -- As they debate what to do with the No. 1 draft pick, the Cavaliers made a significant first move in their coaching search. The team interviewed Chicago Bulls assistant coach Adrian Griffin for its coaching vacancy Tuesday, two people with knowledge of the meeting told the Associated Press. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the situation. Griffin is believed to be the first candidate to formally interview with the Cavs, who are looking for their third coach in three years after owner Dan Gilbert fired Mike Brown last month for the second time in four years. And while the team was meeting with Griffin, Florida coach Billy Donovan, who has reportedly been contacted by the Cavs, wouldnt promise he will return for another season in Gainesville. "I think when you start making guarantees about life and start making guarantees about where youre going to be, thats not good because if for some reason I ever change my mind and did something, I wouldnt want (people) saying, Well, he promised, he guaranteed, he said this on record," Donovan said at the Southeastern Conferences annual spring meetings. "I just think when you start doing that, thats a mistake." The 39-year-old Griffin wasnt drafted out of college, but he played for five teams during nine seasons in the NBA. He has been on Tom Thibodeaus staff in Chicago since 2010. He also worked under former Milwaukee coach Scott Skiles. Griffins background working with the defensive-minded Thibodeau and Skiles, and playing under Jeff Van Gundy and Don Nelson makes him an attractive choice to Gilbert, who believes defence wins championships. New Cavs general manager David Griffin has said he wants to find a coach with "the defensive background thats dyed in the wool of this franchise" and one with offensive openness. The Cavs, who defied long odds to win the NBA draft lottery last week, are not commenting during their coaching search. Soon after Brown was let go following a disappointing 33-49 seasonn, Griffin was one of the first candidates to be linked to Clevelands opening.dddddddddddd He has a good rapport with players, and can identify with life as a pro after being bounced around the league and playing in Europe. Griffin has been pursuing his doctorate in leadership studies while working as an assistant. Last week, a person familiar with the Cavaliers plans told the AP the club plans to interview Los Angeles Clippers assistant Alvin Gentry this week. He previously worked in Phoenix with David Griffin. The Cavs are also reportedly interested in meeting with Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue, and intend to interview former Memphis coach Lionel Hollins later this week. David Griffin recently said the Cavs would not limit themselves during the search and would consider coaches without any NBA experience. One of them could be Donovan, who said last week he has been approached by "several teams." On Tuesday, the Gators coach said hes committed to the school -- he signed a three-year extension in February -- but didnt rule out the chance to jump to the pros at some point. Donovan accepted Orlandos job in 2007 but changed his mind and returned to Florida six days later. While Donovan made it clear hes comfortable at the school, hes leaving his options open for the future. "All I can say is I love Florida, Im happy here ... the schools been great to me," he said. "But at the same point, some of the NBA stuff, as Ive said before, is intriguing in a lot of ways -- the basketball part of it. Thats not to say that Im unhappy here; thats not the case at all. "But when people start getting into forecasting where theyre going to be or what theyre going to do, and Ive seen a lot of coaches over the years come out and say, No, no, no, no, Im not going anywhere, Im not going anywhere, and then all of a sudden they go somewhere and its like, Well, this guy is a complete liar. I dont want to get into that situation. Theres been some teams that have called, but thats really it." ' ' '