Taiwan could not get much going at the plate on Saturday. However, the way starter Lai Cheng-ci was pitching, it did not matter.
Lai struck out 12 batters and allowed just three hits in 5-1/3 innings as Taiwan beat Venezuela 4-1 to advance to the Little League World Series (LLWS) championship.
“He’s the ace pitcher for the team and he shows leadership,” manager Lee Cheng-ta said through an interpreter. “He’s calm and he works hard, so every time we’ve had an important game he’s always the one to be carrying the responsibility.”
Photo: AFP
Taiwan also managed only three hits, but collected eight walks and scored twice on wild pitches.
After press time last night, Guishan Elementary School from Taoyuan, competing for Taiwan and registered as Kuei-Shan Little League, were to face US bracket champion Florida, a 10-7 winner over Texas, in the title game.
In its 32nd LLWS appearance, Taiwan have a chance to win it all for the first time since 1996 — though they have claimed the tournament title 17 times, more than any other international team, including a run of five straight from 1977 to 1981.
Photo: AFP
The team made it to the semi-final on the international side of the bracket last year, but ultimately settled for third place. Lee took the team back to South Williamsport, but with an entirely different roster.
Jose Perez took the mound for Venezuela with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the third. Yu Chia-jai walked on five pitches and put his arms up in joy looking toward his dugout as Chen Bo-wei walked home. The play made the score only 2-0, but it felt like a turning point with Lai in control.
“I was telling the kids to be aggressive in batting, but the kids are trained enough to know what is going to be a ball or strike so if you see a ball, you know, don’t just chase for it,” Lee said.
As Lai racked up strikeouts, Venezuela struggled to consistently find the strike zone. Wild pitches proved costly from the start. In the first inning, a pitch from starter Luis Yepez reached the backstop, allowing Chiu Wei-che to safely slide home and put Taiwan on the board.
Venezuela opened its first at-bat with a single to left by Yepez, and a sacrifice bunt moved him to second.
However, Lai ended the Latin American threat by striking out the next two batters.
In the fifth, Taiwan picked up another run when Yepez and Samuel Carrasquel collided in shallow center trying to catch a fly ball for the inning’s final out. Chen, who singled to left in the previous at-bat, had plenty of time to run home and increase the lead to four.
Venezuela finally mounted a threat in the sixth, putting runners on second and third when Abraham Lucena doubled to right. A groundout got one run home, but Simon Vicheria grounded back to Chiu, who had moved to relief pitcher, to end the game.
“It’s so exciting today, it’s wonderful,” said Chen Wen-hsiang, a parent who traveled to the US.
“The past two weeks have been like a carnival. We are very impressed. I believe the children have learned a lot, and the parents have felt the enthusiasm for baseball held by people and players in the US and other countries,” he said.
“We’re going to celebrate for a few minutes, maybe an hour,” Lee said. “Afterward tonight, we’re going to focus on what’s for tomorrow.”
Additional reporting by CNA
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS