Texas catcher Chandler Spencer, second from right, begins to celebrate with Mark Requena (15) and Collin Ross (17) after getting the final out of a 6-5 win over North Carolina in the United States Championship baseball game a...

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) - Lufkin, Texas, came from five runs down on Saturday to take the United States bracket at the Little League World Series. “But now getting to this level and becoming the Little League World Series champions this year, it can’t get any better than this.”

The title marks the 11th time a team from Japan has won the Little League World Series, five of which have come in the last eight years. Tokyo Kitasuna, the club representing Japan this year, has won the championship three times before, most recently in 2015 when it was guided by Junnji Hidaka, who also is this season's manager. Lufkin had a six-run comeback victory over Greenville, North Carolina, in the U.S. championship game Saturday to reach the final. “I just wanted to prove everybody wrong.”

WHO TO WATCH: Keitaro Miyahara (Japan) hit a leadoff home run, which sparked a four-run first inning for Japan in Saturday’s 5-0 win over Mexico in the international championship game. Despite Lufkin’s elation at winning in such dramatic fashion, the team’s manager and players said after they beat Greenville, North Carolina, 6-5 that their hearts go out to those affected by Hurricane Harvey, which was battering Texas. “I saw it all over social media that North Carolina was going to take the championship game,” Lufkin’s Colin Ross said. The boys from Lufkin, Texas made it all the way to the Little League World Series final, and their families and friends couldn't be happier.
The Kitasuna Little League from the Tokyo, Japan district of Kōtō wins the 2017 Little League World Series, defeating the U.S. champions from Lufkin, Texas 12–2 in a game stopped after five innings due to the LLWS mercy rule. It is the Kitasuna league's third LLWS crown in the last six years, and the 11th title overall for Japan.