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Bulla Graft keeps a close eye on his fourth-inning single that capped a four-run rally and put Chula Vista ahead for good in the title game. (Tom E. Puskar/Associated Press) |
Chula Vista 6, Taiwan 3
A dream finish for Californians
Chula Vista rallies to get past Taiwan
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Bulla Graft’s sharp single scored the go-ahead run in a four-run fourth inning and Kiko Garcia pitched three-plus scoreless innings of relief to lead Chula Vista, Calif., to a 6-3 victory yesterday over Taoyuan, Taiwan, to win the Little League World Series.
With the US-partisan crowd on their feet, Garcia closed out the victory by striking out Yu Chieh Kao, completing a comeback from a 3-0 deficit.
“We knew we could come back,’’ said the 13-year-old Garcia between laughs with his teammates. “We always do.’’
They’re surely celebrating in the San Diego suburbs after California secured the fifth straight Little League championship for the United States.
“It seems San Diego comes so close all the time. The Padres come close and don’t win. The Chargers come close and don’t win,’’ manager Oscar Castro said. “It was nice to do it for the city.’’
Castro sought to shield his team from the pressure of the tournament as they advanced, forbidding them to surf the Internet for the last three weeks to prevent them from seeing the media exposure back home.
Victory yesterday looked in doubt early after Wen Hua Sung and Chin Ou hit back-to-back homers in the third, giving Taiwan a 3-0 lead.
California scored a run in the third before surging ahead in the fourth. Seth Godfrey drove in a run with a sacrifice fly before Nick Conlin scored on a wild pitch.
Slugger Luke Ramirez walked with two outs to bring up Graft. The 12-year-old second baseman hit a 1-and-1 pitch to right to score Andy Rios from third.
Taiwan loaded the bases in the fifth on two hit batsmen and a walk, but Garcia escaped the jam by getting Ou to ground into an inning-ending double play. Rios snagged the bouncer, tagged the runner going to third before throwing to first to get Ou.
“It was just instinct to tag the runner, he was right in front of me,’’ the 13-year-old Rios said. “They had all the momentum with the bases loaded, but I gave us the momentum with the double play.’’
California added two runs in the fifth, more than enough cushion for Garcia.
The boys threw their gloves high in the air after the final out, then gathered near the mound and fell into a pile on the ground.
Ou, who started for Taiwan, baffled the American team early with breaking balls before Chula Vista rallied.
Garcia, who led the team by hitting .667 with three homers and eight RBIs for the tournament, said the team never lost confidence.
“We knew we could hit any kind of pitching,’’ he said.
Taiwan’s coaches declined to speak with reporters afterward, instead choosing to lead their players across the field back to their dorms, with equipment bags in hand.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
