TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's Kuei-Shan Elementary baseball team defeated Venezuela on Saturday (Aug. 24) to punch their ticket to the Little League Baseball World Series finals in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Kuei-Shan Elementary defeated Venezuela by a score of 4-1 to win the international bracket, setting the stage for a showdown against the US champion, Florida, scheduled for 3 a.m. Monday (Aug. 26) Taiwan time, per CNA.
Kuei-Shan has been unbeaten in the double-elimination tournament but faces a big test against a hot-hitting Florida team representing the “Southeast” region.
Kuei-Shan Elementary struck first, with two hits putting runners on the bases. A wild pitch would plate the game's first run, staking the Taiwan team to a 1-0 lead.
Later in the same inning, Taiwan’s ace Lai Cheng-Xi (賴承希) gave up a hit to the first batter and struck out two consecutive batters. He later piled up 12 strikeouts in the game, putting his team in a good position to win.
In the 3rd inning, the Venezuelan pitcher faltered, walking three batters in a row and loading the bases. After a pitching change, Venezuela continued to suffer from control, plating another run with a walk, with a wild pitch tacking on another run, putting Taiwan up 3-0.
Lai continued his dominance from the mound, striking out three batters in a row to end the third inning. In the fourth inning, the Taiwanese continued to apply pressure at the plate with successive hits but failed to score a run.
In the fifth inning, Chiu Wei-zhe (邱唯喆) hit an outfield fly ball with two outs, with two Venezuelan outfielders colliding, leading a run to score. Meanwhile, Lai continued to dominate batters, leading his team to run out to a 4-0 lead.
In the sixth and final inning, Taiwan batters failed to score any runs with a few flyouts in the outfield. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Lai left the game with one out and two base runners.
Venezuela eventually scored, ending the shutout. However, it was not enough as Taiwan won the game by a final score of 4-1.
Kuei-Shan Elementary has so far defeated Canada, Australia, Cuba, Japan, and Venezuela to win the international bracket of the 2024 Little League World Series. Kuei-Shan will now fight for the title that has eluded Taiwan for more than two decades, with the last being titled in 1996.
Taiwan has placed in the Little League World Series in Williamsport 17 times, with third-place finishes in 2023, 2022, and 2010, and a runner-up finish in 2009.
