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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.Red Schoendienst Jersey . -- The goal posts lying flat on the field, Arizonas fans lingered on the field, congregating around the locker room entrance nearly 30 minutes after rushing out of the stands. Lou Brock Jersey .Y. -- Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers had no intention of changing his hard-hitting style before taking part in a disciplinary hearing for his illegal check to New Jersey forward Dainius Zubrus head. http://www.authenticcardinalspro.com/cardinals-jedd-gyorko-jersey/ . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. Adam Wainwright Jersey . "Theyve both been real good," said Babcock. "Havent changed our minds." A decision has seemingly been made - Sundays Group B-deciding tilt against Finland ahead - but it could not have been an easy one. Price opened the tournament with a sturdy 19-save performance against the Norwegians, yielding just one goal. Chris Beck Cardinals Jersey . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed.Two of the NHLs top teams will meet for a second time this season when the New York Rangers host the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.The Blues (5-2-2) emerged with a 3-2 win in St. Louis on Oct. 18. The Rangers (6-3-0) entered the third period down a goal with the Blues missing three players due to injury. Despite being undermanned, St. Louis survived being outshot 15-0 over the final 20 minutes thanks to goaltender Carter Huttons splendid play.The offense has dried up for the Blues with three goals over their past three games, but one was enough in a shutout victory against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. Goaltender Jake Allen made 27 saves and doesnt think the lack of scoring is any more than a little slump over a long season.Its just one of those little stretches where pucks are either hitting a stick, hitting a post, when most of the time theyre going in, Allen said. Thats going to turn for us soon. Weve just got to work through it. The goals will come.It would be nice to see a few more go in and guys to start gripping it a little bit less, myself included, said left winger Jaden Schwarz, who has just one goal in five games. Our goalies have been awesome. We havent been scoring much but have still been able to get points.Scoring has not been a problem for the Rangers, who are averaging a league-best 3.89 goals per game. Their six goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday are two fewer than the Blues have scored in their past five games. The balance has been there too, with seven players scoring at least three goals.The Blues have just four players with at least three goals.Right wing Michael Grabner, a third-liner for New York, scored three goals himself against the Lightninng.ddddddddddddIts an example of how just about anyone in the Rangers lineup can be deadly for opponents this season.A lot of our chances started from good defense, from good smart decisions coming through the neutral zone, and us catching them when we get a chance, said Rangers left wing J.T. Miller, who leads the team with nine points in nine games.We talked about (Tampas defense) being up in the rush all the time and giving us a transition game so we can transition on them.The Rangers speed has been giving teams problems all season and the Blues arent one of the quicker clubs in the league. It didnt matter in the first encounter between the teams because of Hutton, so it will be on whoever is in net for coach Ken Hitchcocks team to make the difference.I dont think that way, Allen said about feeling the pressure to make every save when his team isnt scoring. Thats when they score on you. You just keep playing your game and try not to let anything faze you. If you need one goal, if you need a shutout, so be it, but you dont want to get too far ahead of yourself. Its just sort of one minute at a time.Rangers left wing Chris Kreider had three goals in five games before neck spasms caused him to miss the past four contests. Even without one of their hottest scorers to start the season, the Rangers still averaged four goals per game.You want to play obviously but its very encouraging to see how the team is doing, Kreider said to the media after practice on Monday. Were clicking on a lot of different levels, playing the way they want to play. So at the end of the day, thats what matters. ' ' '