GARY, Ind. -- Midwest champion Taylor, Mich., combined strong pitching and solid hitting for a 6-2 victory over Fort Meyers, Fla., and an impressive debut in the 1981 Senior Little League World Series.
Despite a one-hitter from Michigan's Gary Huckstein and the three doubles by teammate Dave Smith, many eyes Tuesday were on Tipei, Taiwan to see if the Pacific champions would bounce back from an opening loss.
The Taiwan team did just that with a 7-1 decision to eliminate Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
In the other games, Georgetown, Del., beat the European champion from Shape, Belgium, 15-1, in a game stopped after five innings by the 10-run rule.
Taiwan, which has taken home titles for nine straight years, got solo homers in the fourth inning from Kuo-Chong Lo and Tong-Jen Wu and strong pitching from Jen-Shin Lee to oust Surrey.
Tipei's loss Monday night was only the third for a Taiwan team in 10 years.
Smith collected three RBI and also scored two runs.
The only hit off Huckstein was a sixth-inning single by losing pitcher Matt Miller.
Bill Savage had a solo home run for Georgetown, the eastern U.S. champion, while Guy Wilkens picked up the win. The game was stopped after five innings by the 10-run rule.
Another team will be sidelined today in the double-elimination competition for 13- to 15-year-old youngsters. The schedule matches Shape against Fort Meyers in the losers' division while Georgetown faces Taylor and opening night winner Aruba, Venezuela, goes against Danville, Calif., in the nightcap.
