SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, PA —
Lake Mary, Florida, defeated Taiwan, 2-1, in eight innings on Sunday to win the Little League World Series, after LaSan Norton scored from second base on an overthrown ball from first base.
Taiwan held a 1-0 lead from the first inning until Florida's final at-bat. The team representing the Southeast outhit Taiwan three straight times, putting a runner on third base but failing to score.
Then in the bottom of the sixth, with runners on first and second, DeMarcos Mises, who had struck out in his previous two at-bats, stepped up to the plate and hit a ball into the shallow gap in left field, giving Chase Anderson enough time to score and tie the game.
In the eighth inning, Lathan was placed on second base to begin the inning when Hunter Alexander bunted and the throw to first flew into the outfield.
Taiwan walked two batters in a row in the early stages of the game, and after a bunt advanced a runner and resulted in a pop out, Hu Yen-Chun hit a ball toward third base that bounced off James Feliciano's body and allowed Chiu Wei-Che to score easily.
It's Florida's ninth championship, but they came from behind to beat Texas 10-7 in Saturday's semifinals, scoring five runs in their final at-bat.
Taiwan dominated the LLWS from its first title in 1969 until its 17th in 1996, but until Sunday had only appeared in the finals once, since losing to California in 2009. Lee Chen-ta coached both the California team and this year's Taoyuan club, Keishan Little League. Last season, he coached the same team to a third-place finish, albeit with a completely different lineup.
