Westbrook heads home to Maine with a win

Zach Collett had a feeling one sweet swing would be the hit to send his team back to New England as winners.

''It felt good right off the bat," he said. ''Once it went out, it felt even better."

Collett hit a three-run home run in the third inning to lift Westbrook, Maine, to a 3-2 win over Owensboro (Ky.) Southern yesterday in the Little League World Series.

It was the first win of the series for Westbrook (1-2). Owensboro finished 0-3.

Westbrook blew a two-run lead in the sixth inning of its first series game and lost a one-run lead in the fifth in its last game. After a couple of close losses, Westbrook gets to celebrate at home.

In other games, Rancho Buena Vista of Vista, Calif., drubbed Lafayette, La., 9-3; Guam beat Mexico, 5-3; Venezuela beat Saudi Arabia, 4-0, and Surrey, British Columbia, was a 2-1 winner over Moscow.

In Rancho Buena Vista's victory, Kalen Pimentel smacked his second grand slam in two games; on Saturday, he tied a Little League World Series record for a six-inning game with 18 strikeouts.

At the Babe Ruth 14-year-old World Series in Quincy, Stamford, Conn., blasted Waite Park, Minn., 13-2, and plays Italy this afternoon at Adams Field.