Taiwan kept Florida off the scoreboard for 5 2/3 innings of Sunday’s Little League World Series championship game.
But Florida sent the game into extra innings while down to its last out then secured a 2-1 win in the eighth on a chaotic walk-off bunt.
Starting in the eighth inning after six innings of regulation, LLWS offenses begin the inning with a runner on second base. With the game tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Florida’s Hunter Alexander laid down a leadoff bunt in an effort to advance the runner to third. But nobody covered first base on the throw, allowing the winning run to score as the ball bounced into the outfield.
The win by the team from the Orlando suburb of Lake Mary is the first in nine trips to a LLWS final by teams from Florida. It denied Taiwan its 18th LLWS title and what would have been its first since 1996.
It was an excruciating way to lose for Taiwan after it entered the final with a 5-0 record in LLWS play. Taiwanese players were in tears on the field at the conclusion of the game. Players from both teams shared hugs and handshakes before leaving the field.
Taiwan scores first, stifles Florida early
Taiwan got the scoring started in the first inning after Florida pitcher Jacob Bibaud issued leadoff walks to start the game. Hu Yen-Chun plated Chiu Wei-Che on a single with two outs that made it through the left side of the infield to give Taiwan a 1-0 lead.
Taiwan then loaded the bases with two outs on a hit-by-pitch from Bibaud, but Florida got out of the inning allowing just a single run. From there, a series of missed opportunities from Florida’s offense kept it off the scoreboard for most of regulation.
Florida repeatedly leaves runners stranded
Taiwan starting pitcher Ciou Zhi-Kai issued two walks with two outs in the bottom of the first. But he struck out DeMarcos Mieses to end the inning without allowing a run.
After a scoreless top of the second, Florida faced its best early scoring opportunity without securing a hit. Zhi-Kai issued two walks and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases for Florida with no outs. But he induced a double play on a hard-hit ball to third base that didn’t produce a run and got out of the inning with a strikeout.
Florida then stranded runners on first and second with one out in the third. It stranded a runner on third base in the fourth.
Taiwan misses bases-loaded scoring chance
The fifth inning was Florida’s turn to work out of a jam. Lathan Norton replaced Bibaud on the mound after a double put Taiwan runners on second and third with one out. Norton then walked the first batter he faced to load the bases. But he induced consecutive flyouts to left field to end the inning and keep Florida within a 1-0 deficit.
Florida didn’t capitalize in the bottom of the inning. Wei-Che relieved Zhi-Kai on the mound and eventually secured an inning-ending strikeout of Hunter Alexander to strand a Florida runner at second base.
A scoreless top of the sixth produced a chance for Florida to tie the game and send it into extra innings. Chase Anderson reached on a leadoff hit-by-pitch from Wei-Che to put the tying run on first base.
Wei-Che then issued a two-out walk to put runners on first and second, setting up Mieses for some late-inning heroics. He hit a 2-0 offering into shallow left field that allowed Anderson to score from second base. Taiwan then secured the third out of the sixth to send the game into extra innings.
Taiwan had a chance to go ahead in the top of the seventh. But reliever Lathan Norton got out of the inning with a pop-up to leave Taiwan runners stranded at first and second.
Florida had chance to win in 7th
Then Florida saw another scoring opportunity missed in the bottom of the seventh. With a runner on first and two outs, Christopher Chikodroff hit a line drive fair that rolled into the left-field corner. Luis Calo had a chance to score from first, but Florida manager Jonathan Anderson held him up at third base.
The third baseman bobbled the cutoff throw, but Calo had already turned back to third after initially rounding for home. Taiwan then secured an inning-ending strikeout to send the game to the eighth, where offenses start the inning with a runner on second base.
Taiwan failed to score in the top of the inning, setting up Florida’s walk-off win in the bottom half.
Taiwan’s 17 LLWS titles entering Sunday were the most by any international team. But they haven’t won a championship since 1996. Japan has since taken over as the dominant international program with eight LLWS titles since Taiwan’s last for a total of 11.
Florida broke a streak of eight straight trips to the title game without a win, the longest ever for a U.S. team. It fought through the loser’s bracket to get there after losing its third game of the tournament. From there, it won five consecutive elimination games, including Sunday’s championship.