when a 1-3 start dropped his overall record to 7-21 last year. The Bulls have gone 17-4 since, with their only losses this season coming against Florida State and AAC champion Temple.Strong talked to

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.Cheap Air Max For Sale . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. Clearance Air Max . -- Charline Labonte couldnt have asked for a better homecoming. https://www.airmaxchina.us/ . Speaking to the Chicago Tribune at baseballs Winter Meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Boras called the former home of the Expos a "tremendous environment" for baseball. Air Max Outlet .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. Cheap Air Max . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half.TAMPA, Fla. -- Charlie Strong is confident he can lead South Florida to new heights.The former Texas and Louisville coach was formally introduced Thursday as a proven winner capable of transforming a program thats never won a conference championship into one that competes for national titles.Strong was fired last month after three losing seasons at Texas. No. 25 USF signed him to a five-year, heavily back-loaded $9.8 million contract that also will enable the 56-year-old to collect much of the more than $10 million the Longhorns owe him over the next two seasons.It really wasnt a hard decision on coming here, Strong said during a news conference held in the midst of what essentially was a pep rally for cheering students and fans assembled to welcome the fourth coach in school history to campus.We all have a vision of where wed like to take ourselves, the coach added. We all have a vision of where wed like to take this program.Strong inherits a team that went 10-2 this season under Willie Taggart, who left last week to become the new coach at Oregon. The Bulls will seek a school-record 11th victory in the Birmingham Bowl, where theyll face South Carolina.Coach Taggart built an unbelievable program, a program that has a solid foundation. Now its up to me to build on this foundation, continue to keep the program in the spotlight, Strong said. Theres no reason why we cant compete for championships year in and year out.Texas went 16-21 under Strongs watch. He takes over a program at USF that was launched from scratch in the mid-1990s and rose as high as No. 2 in the nation in 2007 before declining steadily over the next five seasons.Though Im disappointed in the record, Im very grateful for the opporrtunity I had at the University of Texas.dddddddddddd. We built a program and put a foundation in place that will allow them to have great success in the future, similar to what coach Taggart has done here, Strong said.It was a great experience for me; it was a great experience for my family. It was a great experience for our staff, and its one I will never regret, the coach added. But those days have passed, and its time to [move] on.Taggart won two games in 2012, his first season in Tampa, and appeared to be on the verge of losing his job at the American Athletic Conference school when a 1-3 start dropped his overall record to 7-21 last year. The Bulls have gone 17-4 since, with their only losses this season coming against Florida State and AAC champion Temple.Strong talked to Taggart about the prospect of taking an assistants job at Oregon, as well as the position the ex-Bulls coach left behind.I told him I want to be the head coach at South Florida, said Strong, who won two Big East championships at Louisville while going 37-15 over four seasons with the Cardinals.Strong, a one-time Florida assistant who helped Urban Meyer win a pair of national championships with the Gators, said he will recruit players who will graduate as well as compete for championships.He demands the best on the field, in the classroom and in the community. ... He coaches players and develops people, university president Judy Genshaft said.We are all eager in anticipation of what USF football will become, athletic director Mark Harlan added, and we believe this future is in excellent hands. ' ' '