SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT — Eleven boys from Columbus, Ga., will have to miss at least one more day of school.

At least they'll have an original excuse.

The boys from Columbus will face a team from Kawaguchi City, Japan, on Monday night for the Little League World Series title. The squads were forced to spend another day far from home because rain washed away their first attempt to play Sunday.

School started for the Columbus players earlier this month, and Georgia students typically aren't allowed more than five non-excused absences. But school administrators have given the Columbus Northern league team a pass as they try to take the Little League crown.

The Columbus squad was supposed to be back in home room on Tuesday.

"We can't keep delaying that," Little League president Stephen Keener said Sunday, adding, "The kids from Japan need to get home."

First, there's a Little League title to be decided under the lights at Lamade Stadium at 8 p.m. EDT on Monday.

It's the first time the game will be played on a Monday, and the latest start time for a game played by middle school-age boys.

The title game has been rescheduled once before, in 1990, when rain forced San-Hua, Chinese Taipei, and Shippensburg, Pa., to play on a Sunday, one day late. Chinese Taipei won 9-0.

Japan has a lethal combination of good pitching and power hitting that has helped make them the only undefeated squad in this year's tournament.

In the international title game win over Matamoros, Mexico, on Saturday, Go Matsumoto homered, then came in as a reliever in the sixth and used his fastball to get his team out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam to end the contest.

Japan manager Shigeru Hidaka has said either Matsumoto or ace Ryoya Sato, who has 21 strikeouts in 11-plus innings, may start Monday.

Besides his stellar pitching, Matsumoto also leads the team with seven RBIs and has two of Japan's 11 home runs. Columbus has just four homers as a team.

At least Columbus might be able to stay with Japan pitch-for-pitch: manager Randy Morris will start ace Kyle Carter, who has three wins and 19 strikeouts over 13 innings pitched.