The El Segundo all-star team emerged victorious in the U.S. championship of the Little League World Series on Saturday, defeating the Needville, Texas team with a score of 6-1. Surprisingly, the El Segundo team had lost to Needville just a few days ago on Monday.
El Segundo will now have the opportunity to compete for the world championship on Sunday against the Willemstad, Curacao all-star team. Willemstad secured their place in the final by winning the international championship earlier on Saturday, beating the Taoyuan, Taiwan team with a score of 2-0.
Louis Lappe, the star player from El Segundo, had an outstanding performance, restricting Needville to only three hits and one run over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out 10 batters and only allowed one walk. Not only that, but Lappe also made a significant contribution with his bat, driving in five runs, including a magnificent three-run homer in the fifth inning against Easton Ondruch, who was Needville’s reliever.
Reflecting on his homer, Lappe stated, “Once you hit it, sometimes you know it’s going out and that one I knew it was going out as soon as I hit it,” during an interview with ABC.
In the third inning, Lappe also managed to single in two runs, delighting the crowd of 28,791 spectators at the Howard J. Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Another notable performer for El Segundo was Brody Brooks, who hit a home run at the beginning of the first inning. He finished the game with a perfect 3-for-3 and scored three runs.
In the top of the fifth inning, Needville managed to secure a run when D.J. Jablonski hit a double, advanced to third due to an error made by El Segundo’s center fielder Max Baker, and scored on a wild pitch by Lappe.
Jablonski, who pitched for Needville, unfortunately suffered the loss. Over a span of 4 1/3 innings, he allowed four runs and six hits. However, he did manage to strike out six batters and only walked three.
In their previous encounter on Monday, Jablonski had limited El Segundo to only four hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings, resulting in a 3-1 victory for Needville. The lone run for El Segundo came from Lappe’s first-inning home run.
This victory marked the fourth win in just five days for El Segundo, following their loss to Needville, the Southwest Region champions.
Having participated in five tournaments this summer, El Segundo currently boasts an impressive record of 19-2. Their only other defeat was against the Sherman Oaks Little League all-star team, who beat El Segundo 4-3 in the opening game of the Southern California State Tournament championship series on July 31. However, El Segundo managed to avenge their loss later that day, winning the rematch with a score of 3-2.
On the contrary, Needville had their incredible 14-game winning streak come to an end with this loss, bringing their tournament record to 20-2.
During the Texas East Section 4 tournament, Needville suffered their first defeat against the all-star team from the Hallettsville Little League, losing 4-3. However, they bounced back strongly, defeating the Sweeny Little League all-star team with a score of 6-2. In another game, they dominated Hallettsville, securing a landslide victory of 19-0, which was called off after three innings due to the run rule. According to the rule, if a team is trailing by at least 15 runs through three innings, the manager can voluntarily concede the victory to the opponent.
Continuing their success, the Southwest Region champions defeated Hallettsville 1-0 to win the tournament.
Needville will now face Taoyuan in the third-place game on Sunday.
This is the first time since 1994 that a team from Los Angeles County has made it to the U.S. championship game. The Northridge Little League all-star team emerged as the U.S. champions in 1994, featuring future USC and NFL quarterback Matt Cassel.
Teams from Los Angeles County have won the Little League World Series three times. The Granada Hills National Little League won in 1963, while teams from the Long Beach Little League emerged victorious in both 1992 and 1993.
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