PEARLAND – The Pearland All-Stars are one win away from the U.S. Championship game at the Little League World Series in Williamsport.
The Southwest Region team will play the Southeast Region team from Nolensville, Tenn. at 6 p.m. on Thursday night.
The winner will advance to the U.S. Championship game on Saturday afternoon.
On Thursday morning, some of the players told KPRC 2 the Tennessee team is one they’ve become closest friends with during the last two weeks in Pennsylvania.
“They make friends with a lot of teams, and so, I think when they step on the field, the friendship will stop for a little while. But they’re kids and they don’t hold any grudges and they hang out and love it,” manager Aaron Cummings said.
The Texas team has won two games in a row after losing to Hawaii on Monday night. Whichever team wins Thursday night will face Hawaii in the U.S. Championship game.
During Wednesday night’s game, outfielder Corey Kahn caught what would’ve been a home run for the Pennsylvania team in a play that’s going viral.
“Everyone was telling me I had like whiplash and my glove went up, I caught it, I didn’t think I caught it at first, I was like ‘Aw,’ and then I saw that I caught it and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I just robbed a homerun!’,” he said. “Words can’t explain how happy I am right now – it’s once in a lifetime, I didn’t think I’d ever make it on (ESPN SportsCenter’s) top 10, much less be number one. It’s just crazy.”