Tack on Maxen Snoozy pitching a near perfect game and some timely first inning hitting and South Dakota had an unbeatable combination.

Snoozy threw a brilliant one-hit shutout, retiring the final 16 batters he faced, while South Dakota scored two, two-out first inning runs to blank Pennsylvania, 2-0. Snoozy struck out 11, walked none and helped South Dakota become just the second team from its league to win a Series game in four appearances.

“We talked about this before. This is going to probably be the biggest crowd these kids play in front of until if they make the show,” South Dakota manager Ryan Vavruska said. “There’s not many high school games you see 17,000 people at. We knew what we were up against and when the game started these boys never looked back.”

Snoozy allowed an Ethan Herbein two-out single in the bottom of the first but was perfect from there, fanning 10 of the last 16 batters he faced. The lefty threw 63 of his 86 pitches for strikes and made that two-run cushion look much larger.

Tate Schneider of the Midwest team is tagged out by Frankie Kolter of the Mid-Atlantic team during the Little League World Series in South Williamsport. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Devin Aukes sparked the game-changing rally in the top of the first, hitting a two-out single. Camden Tycz followed with an RBI double, Kenson Henderson an RBI single and the Midwest champions had all they needed to earn a spot in Monday’s winner’s bracket semifinals against the winner of Friday’s Hawaii-Connecticut game.

Aiden Mercer threw five strong innings for Pennsylvania and struck out four. The Mid-Atlantic champions will play in an elimination game Saturday against Illinois.

CHINESE TAIPEI 3, MEXICO 0

Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chin-Tse can do damage with his arm against teams. He also showcased that he’s equally as good at the plate, if not better.

Chin-Tse took a pitch and crushed it well over the left-field fence for a no-doubt-about-it home run, giving Chinese Taipei an early lead that the Asia-Pacific Regional champions never relinquished en route to a 3-0 win against Mexico at Volunteer Stadium on Thursday evening.

Mid-Atlantic pitcher Aiden Mercer jumps for a hit by Grayson Rehfeldt of the Midwest Team during the second inning at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“It brings up the spirit for myself and also for my team,” Chin-Tse said. “It also brought up the spirit for the team to go forward.”

That early home run helped set the tone for Chinese Taipei as they scored a run in each of the first three inning to put Mexico in a hole. Mexico was able to put some balls in play, but unfortunately didn’t come up with many timely hits when needed.

“It was a great game with Chinese pitcher throwing a good game, but the Mexico team played a good game (too),” Mexico manager Esteban Gallardo said. “We made good swings, but we were not able to get a hit at the right time, but we did a good job.”

Chin-Tse ended the game with 58 pitches thrown and struck out nine batters before Chang Chun-Po threw two innings of two-hit ball and Chen Qi-Sheng closed the game out with one hit allowed.

Chen Shi-Rong and Chang Chun-Po both had doubles for Chinese Taipei. All of Mexico’s hits were singles. Chun-Po went 2 for 2 for Chinese Taipei and was the Asia-Pacific Regional champions lone batter with multiple hits. Gregorio Madrid led Mexico with two hits as he finished the game 2 for 2 with a walk.

Devin Aukes of the Midwest team celebrates after scoring in the first inning against the Mid-Atlantic team during the Little League World Series in South Williamsport. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

SOUTH CAROLINA 13, MASSACHUSETTS 0 (4 INN.)

South Carolina never hesitated to open up its offense and got it going right away. South Carolina scored two fast runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back from there en route to a 13-0, four-inning rout over Massachusetts on Thursday afternoon at Lamade Stadium.

South Carolina led 2-0 ater the first inning and then the offense kept coming in. South Carolina scored six runs in the second for an 8-0 lead and put the mercy rule into effect with a five-run third inning to go up, 13-0.

The 13-0 win is the biggest blowout by an American team since 2015 at the World Series.

“I’m humbled to hear that. That’s a great stat,” South Carolina manager Dave Bogan said. “The game, in general, is what we’ve done all summer. We hit from top to bottom.”

Maxen Snoozy of the Midwest Region celebrates after winning the game 2-0 over Mid-Atlantic during the Little League World Series in South Williamsport. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Tennessee collected eight hits, three of which were for extra bases.

Joe Giulietti had a monster performance. The starting pitcher went 2 for 2 with four RBIs, two runs scored, a home run and a double while also being walked.

Jacob Gibson added a double for the Southeast Regional champions, too, as he went 1 for 2 with a run. Preston Ware went 2 for 2 with four RBIs, two runs scored and a walk. South Carolina also saw Ethan Bennett, Palmer Steele and Ryder Tillitz hit singles.

Giulietti threw 3 1/3 innings and was taken out after throwing 68 pitches. He struck out eight batters, walked just three and didn’t allow a hit.

Massachusett’s lone hit came after Giulietti was relieved when Colman Gouthro hit a single.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Southeast's Joe Giulietti crosses home after hitting a base-clearing home run during a Little League World Series game against New England at Lamade Stadium on Thursday. Southeast won 13-0 in four innings.

The loss drops Massachusetts into the elimination portion of the bracket where the New England Regional champions play against Texas in a game where only the winner advances.

With the win, Tennessee is off until Monday afternoon and will face either Washington or Nevada. Those two teams face off Friday afternoon at Lamade Stadium.

JAPAN 12, CZECHIA 0 (4 INN.)

Everything went Japan’s way on Thursday at Volunteer Stadium against Brno, Czechia. There was a fast two-run first inning.

Then, the flood gates opened offensively and Japan plated nine runs to go up by double digits and never looked b ack. Japan defeated the Europe and Africa Regional champions in a rout, 12-0, in four innings to drop Czechia into the elimination bracket.

Japan’s three pitchers of Kensei Takeuchi, Ritsugu Furusato and Tensei Yazawa combined for a no-hitter with eight strikeouts, six of which came from the arm of Takeuchi who threw 2 1/3 innings on 36 pitches.

“Our tactics make the difference for the offense, and Takeuchi played very well,” Japan manager Kiichiro Kubo said. “That’s why we got a lot of (runs) scored.”

Japan ended the game with three extra-base hits as Itsuki Masuyama (1 for 2) had a double, and both Yushi Yamamoto (1 for 2, three RBIs) and Suburau Yoshida (1 for 2, RBI) had doubles.

Defensively, the team played well by not allowing a hit and grabbing anything Czechia put into play.

The Europe and Africa Regional champions played well from a defensive standpoint by not committing a single error. It simply was a good team playing great against Czechia.

“We knew historically that Japan is one of the best teams in the world. Obviously we didn’t put our best pitcher against them because we knew we had little change, and we needed to be realistic, so we tried to pitch about 35 pitches so they would be allowed to pitch again,” Czechia assistant coach Tomas Ovesny said. “We already know we will get Australia and we saw a game yesterday, and I think they are on our level. Hopefully we can beat them.”

That elimination game between Australia and Czechia is on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Volunteer Stadium.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent New England catcher Ryan Fennell bobbles the ball as Southeast's Ethan Bennett scores during a Little League World Series game at Lamade Stadium on Thursday. Southeast won 13-0 in four innings.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Southeast's Joe Giulietti celebrates after hitting a base-clearing home run during a Little League World Series game against New England at Lamade Stadium on Thursday. Southeast won 13-0 in four innings.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Japan's Subaru Yoshida greets the umpire as he steps to the plate during a Little League World Serries game against Europe-Africa at Volunteer Stadium on Thursday. Japan won 12-0 in four innings.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Kensel Takeuchi throws for Japan in a Little League World Serries game against Europe-Africa at Volunteer Stadium on Thursday. Japan won 12-0 in four innings.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Tensei Yazawa takes the mound for Japan in a Little League World Serries game against Europe-Africa at Volunteer Stadium on Thursday. Japan won 12-0 in four innings.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Kensel Takeuchi throws for Japan in a Little League World Serries game against Europe-Africa at Volunteer Stadium on Thursday. Japan won 12-0 in four innings.