Chula Vista, California, came from behind to beat Taiwan’s Kuei-Shan 6-3 and claim the Little League World Series crown on Sunday.
Bulla Graft singled in the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and Kiko Garcia pitched three-plus scoreless innings of relief to settle down a Chula Vista team that had fallen three runs behind.
The teams shook hands before the Californians celebrated, then invited Kuei-Shan to accompany them on the customary victory lap around Lamade Stadium.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“We knew we could come back,” said the 13-year-old Garcia in between laughs with his teammates. “We always do.”
Before the game, US Vice President Joe Biden fondly recalled playing youth baseball in Pennsylvania while being honored.
Biden was enshrined into Little League’s Hall of Excellence. Accompanied by three granddaughters, Biden told the crowd he started out in Little League as an eight-year-old playing shortstop for the Green Ridge Little League in Scranton before moving to center-field.
Biden joked that if he was given the choice as a child to pitch in the World Series or be vice president, he would pick the World Series.
Sporting a Little League World Series hat, Biden then signed a few autographs.
In the match itself, Chula Vista’s win looked in doubt early on. Sung Wen-hua and Ou Chin hit back-to-back homers in the third inning to give the team from Taoyuan a 3-0 lead.
Chula Vista scored a run in the third before surging ahead in the fourth. Seth Godfrey drove in a run on a sacrifice fly, before Nick Conlin scored on a wild pitch.
Later, Kuei-Shan walked slugger Luke Ramirez with two outs to bring up Graft. The 12-year-old second baseman hit a pitch to right to score Andy Rios from third.
Kuei-Shan loaded the bases in the fifth off two hit batters and a walk, but Garcia escaped the jam after getting Ou to ground into an inning-ending double-play. Rios snagged the bouncer, tagged the runner going to third and threw to first to get Ou.
“It was just instinct to tag the runner. He was right in front of me,” the 13-year-old Rios said. “They had all the momentum with the bases loaded, but I gave us the momentum with the double-play.”
Chula Vista added two runs in the fifth, more than enough cushion for Garcia.
The boys threw their gloves high in the air after Kao Yu-chieh struck out to end the game, then gathered near the mound and fell into a pile on the ground.
Ou, who started for Kuei-Shan, baffled Chula Vista early with breaking balls.
Chula Vista didn’t homer on Sunday, as the club followed through on manager Oscar Castro’s philosophy to hit line drives, not the long ball.
Kuei-Shan’s coaches declined to speak with reporters afterward, instead choosing to lead their players across the field back to their dormitories, with their equipment bags in hand.
They walked right past giddy Chula Vista boys on their hands and knees, scooping up bags of infield dirt as a memento of their big win.
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