It was business as usual for the Fairfield National team on Thursday, with preparations for the next step in the Little League World Series.
Fairfield, 4-0, is in the driver's seat, and will have had two days off before facing Las Vegas for the second time in a row, only this time it will be in the U.S. championship on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ABC.
The Mountain Region champs bounced back from Wednesday's loss to Connecticut with a 5-3 come-from-behind win over South Carolina in Thursday's late game as Garrett Gallegos hit a long three-run home run in the sixth inning.
Fairfield manager Brian Palazzolo talked about his plan immediately following Wednesday's 7-3 win over Las Vegas.
"We're going to celebrate (Wednesday night)," he said. "Then (assistant coaches) Tom Curley, Dave Gryga and I will sit down, come up with a good pitching strategy for the weekend, because it is bang-bang, no off days."
Starters have a limit of 85 pitches. Luca Pellegrini has been able to pitch two complete games without going over the limit, and SJ Taxiltaridis has been able to get deep into both of his starts, getting all but the last two outs against Nevada. Pellegrini would be able to start Saturday. If Fairfield reaches the final on Sunday, it could get tricky.
Meanwhile, the players had their daily practice on Thursday. One of the team's mottos is "No days off." Then they waited out the elimination game Thursday night that would determine their next opponent. No Fairfield players qualified for the Home Run Derby Thursday night. Fairfield has hit only one homer in Williamsport, that by Tommy D'Amura on Wednesday.
"A true Tom Bomb," Palazzolo called it.
"It's definitely a moment I'll have for the rest of my life," D'Amura said of his sixth-inning blast to left-center. "Something I never thought would happen, but in that moment, my heart dropped. It felt like, if this ever happens, it's going to be one of the best moments of my life."
The other piece of scheduling business settled on Thursday afternoon was Aruba defeating Venezuela, 3-1, in an international semifinal and will face Chinese Taipei in that final on Saturday before the U.S. game. It will be a rematch as Taipei knocked Aruba into the losers' bracket with a 4-0 win on Monday. Aruba is making it's first appearance in an international final.