Fairfield American Takes on Pearland, Texas In LLWS

After a day off, Fairfield American will be back in action in the Little League World Series on Sunday night when it takes on Pearland, Texas, the Southwest Region champion. The game will be televised by ESPN2 at 8 p.m.

This is a pivotal contest in pool B,  as the winner will be in the driver's seat to advance to the semfinals next Saturday.

Whomever wins tonight will stand as the only unbeaten team in the group and need only one more win to reach the final four. Since the first round is double elimination, it would have two opportunities to get that single victory.

Tonight's loser, however, will have to win three games to get to the final four. The first of those would come on Monday against Auburn, Washington, which ousted Plymouth, Minnesota with a 5-2 victory on Saturday night.

Fairfield American coach Chris Daley figures to start either Jack Quinn or Eddie Magi, who had two wins and a save in the New England Regionals.

Quinn had the key hit in Friday's 3-1 victory over Auburn, a two-run double that snapped a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Like Fairfield American, Pearland, a Houston suburb, is making its first appearance in Williamsport.

Pearland boasts a potent offense, as it belted four home runs in Friday's 10-8 victory over Plymouth, Minnesota, the Midwest champion.

Still, the Texas East winners -- Texas has two champions because the state is so big - had to hang on to the victory  after opening an 8-0 lead after two innings. Plymouth made it interesting with a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth.

The teams combined to use 11 pitchers in a game that lasted two hours, 43 minutes, a marked contrast to the Fairfield American-Auburn contest, which was completed in 92 minutes.

Jake Orlando, who batted .750 (12-for-16) in the Southwest Regionals, continued his hot hitting for Pearland by going 4-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI.  Blake Toler and Jorge Gutierrez also homered for Pearland.