“I think at one point their pitcher had struck out eight or nine in a row”, NY head coach Scott Rush said, according to the Press & Sun-Bulletin of Binghamton, N.Y. “Just an unbelievable feeling”. South Korea won 7-2.
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The loss was the second of the tournament for the Asia-Pacific Region representatives, and the second all-time for South Korea in Little League Baseball World Series play.
This is the first Little League World Series championship for NY since Staten Island won it all in 1964.
With the victory, it’s the first time since a USA team has won the tournament since California in 2011. Conner Rush hit an RBI single to give NY its first run in the inning.
The other NY team to win the Little League championship was Schenectady in 1954. “Their teamwork, tenacity and love of the game shone bright on the world stage and made all New Yorkers very proud”. They now face South Korea who beat Panama 7-2 earlier Saturday in the worldwide final.
With one out, Maine-Endwell’s Jude Abbadessa started the surge with the team’s first hit off Jeong, who had struck out seven of the first 10 hitters. “So you never know what can happen with that pitch”.
His performance left opposing manager Joey Hale with praise.
Believe it. The Maine-Endwell 12A Little League team is the best in the world.
Most of New York’s players had been on other teams together before.
The president congratulated the team on their win, and wished them good luck for Sunday.
NY fell to eventual World Series runner-up Red Land in the Mid-Atlantic Region final previous year.
In the consolation game, Esmith Pineda hit a game-winning home run to lead Panama to a 3-2 comeback win over Goodlettsville, Tennessee.
“From there on, I pretty much knew we were going to go a long way”, infielder Jack Hopko previously said.
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“They’re a big team”, Rush said.
