Lake Mary, Fla., rallies to beat Taiwan 2-1 in 8 innings to win Little League World Series title
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Lathan Norton was sick and didn’t play Saturday in the Little League World Series. But on Sunday, he scored the championship-winning run.
Lathan raced home from second base on an overthrown pitch to first as Lake Mary, Fla., rallied to beat Taiwan 2-1 in eight innings and win the title.
“It was the most incredible feeling of my life,” said Lathan, who had a 102-degree fever Saturday but recovered before the championship. “I haven’t had time to process it all yet, but it’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever experienced.”
Taiwan held a 1-0 lead from the first inning until Florida’s final at-bat. The Southeast Region representatives outscored Taiwan and had a runner on third base in three separate innings, but failed to score a run.
Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Florida put runners on first and second base and DeMarcos Mieses, who had been thrown out in his previous two at-bats, delivered. He hit into the gap in left field, giving Chase Anderson enough time to sprint home and tie the game.
In the eighth inning, Lathan was placed on second base to start the inning. Hunter Alexander bunted and the throw to first base went into the outfield. The Florida players left the dugout while the Taiwan players collapsed.
“I was just like, ‘Just stay, just stay,’” Hunter said. “Once the ball got in front of me, I was like, ‘Let’s go!’”
Taiwan got two straight walks to start the game. After a bunt that advanced the runners and a pop out, Hu Yen-Chun hit a ball to third base, which ricocheted off James Feliciano. Chiu Wei-Che scored easily. But that was Taiwan’s only run.
It’s the first championship in nine attempts for Florida, which also came from behind in its 10-7 semifinal win over Texas on Saturday, scoring five runs in its final at-bat.
“We came here to do something. We came here to do a job, and today we got that job done,” Florida manager Jonathan Anderson said. “We took a loss to Texas, we fought to the end and we’re here to talk about how we earned it all.”
The Taiwanese team dominated the LLWS from 1969, when it won its first championship, to 1996, when it won its 17th. But it had only reached the title once since 2009, in a loss to California, before Sunday. Lee Cheng-Ta coached both that team and this year’s club, Kuei-Shan Little League in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Last season, he led the same team – with a completely different roster – to a third-place finish.
Taiwan’s coaches, representing the Asia-Pacific region, refused to attend the post-match press conference.
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Amanda Vogt is a student at the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
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AP Sports: https://apnews.com/sports
