SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — An ice pack strapped around Jesus Sauceda's potent right shoulder slipped down into his jersey, interrupting a post-game interview.

It was about the only thing Sunday that went wrong for the 13-year-old ace pitcher for Matamoros, Mexico. Sauceda pitched the fifth perfect game in Little League World Series history and the first in 29 years when he struck out all 12 batters in a 12-0 win over Emilia, Italy.

The game went four innings instead of the usual six because of Little League's 10-run mercy rule.

"To be honest with you, I wasn't expecting this," Sauceda said through translator Sergio Guzman. He proudly displayed the ball that was the final pitch on a table.

"I was just going out there to throw."

Did he ever. Italian batters were overmatched, and Sauceda starred at the plate, too, going 3-for-3 with six RBIs, including a grand slam in the third.

"The speed of that pitcher doesn't exist in Italy," Italian manager Andrea Bettati said, shaking his head.

Also Sunday, Tokyo defeated White Rock, British Columbia, 9-3, with three more contests on tap later in the day.

Sauceda got to three-ball counts only a couple of times, including the first batter of the fourth, pinch-hitter Matteo Lafranchi.

"I was starting to get nervous there. He was just fouling it off, fouling it off and all of a sudden I had three balls on him," Sauceda said. Lafranchi finally struck out on an off-speed pitch, and Sauceda cruised from there.

Vocal fans, including 24 members of Sauceda's family, cheered and held up a large Mexican flag while Sauceda's teammates surrounded him and patted his head. Fans held up 12 placards with the letter "K'' for each of his strikeouts.

Sauceda never dreamed about such a scene.

"I have dreamed of being a hero of one of the games, maybe winning the World Series eventually, but not such a great game all along," he said.

The last perfect game at the World Series was thrown by Taiwan's Chao-An Chen in 1979. Sauceda's gem also came 51 years after Angel Macias of Monterrey, Mexico, threw a perfect game to win the Little League World Series championship.

Japan 9, Canada 3

Takumi Ozeki struck out eight and had a two-run homer as Japan moved to 2-0 in pool play. Connor Kenwood drove in two runs with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth for winless Canada before reliever Satoshi Suehiro got a foul-out to end the game.