Eliminating 12 players, Taiwan beats Venezuela 4-1 in Little League World Series semifinals

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Taiwan starter Lai Cheng-Xi struck out 12 batters and allowed just three hits as the Asia-Pacific team beat Venezuela 4-1 on Saturday to advance to the Little League World Series championship.

Taiwan had just three hits but didn’t need any, drawing eight walks and scoring twice on wild pitches.

Taiwan will face the winner of the Florida-Texas game, which will be played later Saturday, in the title game on Sunday. In its 32nd LLWS appearance, Taiwan has a chance to win it all for the first time since 1996, although it has won the tournament title 17 times, more than any other international team, including a five-game winning streak from 1977 to 1981.

Kuei-Shan Little League from Taoyuan, Taiwan, reached the semifinals on the international side of the bracket in 2023, but ultimately settled for third place. Manager Lee Cheng-Ta brought the team back to South Williamsport, but with an entirely different roster.

José Perez took the mound for Venezuela with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the third inning. Yu Chia-Jai walked five pitches and raised his arms in joy as he looked toward his dugout as Chen Bo-Wei headed home. The play only made it 2-0, but it appeared to be a turning point with Lai in control.

As Lai racked up strikeouts, Venezuela struggled to consistently find the strike zone. Wild pitches proved costly early on. In the first inning, a pitch from starter Luis Yepez reached the net, allowing Chiu Wei-Che to slide safely home and put Taiwan on the board.

Venezuela opened its first at-bat with a single to left field by Luis, and a sacrifice bunt moved him to second base. But Lai ended Latin America’s threat by striking out the next two batters.

In the fifth inning, Taiwan scored another run when Luis and Samuel Carrasquel collided in center field trying to catch a fly ball for the final out of the inning. Chen, who had singled to left in the previous at-bat, had plenty of time to come home and increase the lead to four.

Venezuela finally managed to put the threat together in the sixth inning, putting runners on second and third when Abraham Lucena doubled to right. A groundout brought in a runner, but Simon Vicheria grounded out to Chiu, who had moved to relief, to end the game.

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Amanda Vogt is a student at the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.