Taiwan came away with a third place win at the Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) in Pennsylvania on Sunday, with a decisive victory over Tennessee, which represented the Southeast region of the United States.
It was Taiwan’s third shutout of the tournament. In its two other games, they only yielded one run apiece to teams representing Mexico and the Caribbean, and its only loss was to the Caribbean team, 1-0.
Taiwan, represented by a team from Taipei Municipal Fulin Elementary School, was boosted by a strong performance by starting pitcher Liao Yuan-shu (???), who dismissed 13 batters through six innings, giving up only three hits and not a single walk or run.
While Taiwan and Tennessee each had three hits, the Taiwan team had the advantage of speed and capitalized on their opponents’ errors to maintain a lead in the top of the second.
In the fourth inning, with Lee Fang-mo (???) on second base, pinch hitter Wu Hsuan-hung (???) popped a hit to center field to send Lee home and pad the margin to 2-0.
The offensive leeway, though seemingly small, was enough for Liao, who calmly struck out two in a row, after surrendering a double, to stifle the Tennessee offense in the second frame of the fourth.
“Since this is my last game in little league, I wanted a win, no matter what,” Liao, 12 years old, said after the game, adding that the little bit of “havoc” in the fourth inning did not disturb him at all.
In the tournament, Liao pitched 12 1/3 innings and tallied 23 strikeouts and seven hits, with no walks or runs.
Meanwhile, Wu, who hit Taiwan’s crucial run in the game, said he was pleased with his own performance and delighted with his team’s third place finish in the world series.
The 12-year-old batter said he could not wait to share his joy with his family.
Team manager Chang Tzu-chien (???) said it was an emotional game, as the last time a team from Taipei performed so well in the LLBWS was when a Taipei Little League team won the tournament 50 years ago.
He gave credit to all the players for the team’s historic performance at the LLBWS in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, saying it did not hinge on just a few superstars and he was proud of their accomplishments.
Taiwan, which holds a tournament record of 17 titles, had not made it to the LLBWS since 2015 and had not finished third or better since 2010. The last time Taiwan won the LLBWS championship was in 1996.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel