SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — Lin Chin-Tse retired the first 13 batters he faced and allowed just one hit in five innings as Taiwan beat Nevada 7-0 in the Little League World Series championship Sunday, ending a 29-year title drought for the Taiwanese.
Taiwan won its first LLWS since 1996, although its 18 titles are the most of any country beside the United States, including five straight from 1977 to 1981.
Lin, a 5-foot-8 right hander, also smashed a three-run triple in Taiwan’s five-run fifth. The 12-year-old from Taipei hit more than 80 mph with his fastball multiple times during the tournament, which to batters looks much faster because the plate in this level of baseball is only 46 feet away. His velocity looked much the same on Sunday.
Lin’s longest start before Sunday was three innings in Taiwan’s opening game against Mexico. He allowed only one hit in a subsequent victory over Venezuela.
Garrett Gallegos broke up the perfect game with a single into left field in the fifth inning but was caught in a double play when Grayson Miranda lined out to second. Nevada was appearing in its first championship game.
Offensively, Taiwan capitalized on four wild pitches and a passed ball. Jian Zih-De worked a walk leading off the bottom of the second and later scored when he beat the throw home after the wild pitches.
Chen Shi-Rong scored Taiwan’s second run in the bottom of the third when he ran home on a Nevada throwing error to first base.
The last international team to win the tournament title was Japan in 2017.
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Alexandra Wenskoski and Amanda Vogt are students in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
