Taiwan Wins Little League World Series for First Time Since 1996, Ending 29-Year Title Drought

Taiwan’s Little League World Series victory Sunday marked an end to a 29-year title drought for the nation, with the team securing their first championship since 1996. This triumph adds to Taiwan’s record of 18 titles, making it the second most successful country in the tournament, behind only the United States.

Lin Chin-Tse, a 5-foot-8 right-handed pitcher from Taipei, spearheaded the victory, retiring the first 13 batters he faced and conceding just one hit over five innings. Taiwan secured a 7-0 win against Nevada in the championship game.

In addition to his impressive pitching performance, Lin also demonstrated his batting skills with a three-run triple in the fifth inning. His fastball clocked above 80 mph during the tournament and looked even faster due to the shorter distance between the pitcher’s mound and home plate at this level of baseball (46 feet or 14 meters).

Lin’s longest outing before Sunday was a three-inning stint in Taiwan’s opening game against Mexico. He had previously allowed only one hit in a victory over Venezuela.

“I am very excited,” Lin expressed through an interpreter. “In the first inning, I was very nervous, but after that it was smooth.”

Taiwan’s strategy for the tournament revolved around leveraging their defense to support offense. Manager Lai Min-Nan explained, “If the opposing team cannot score, they cannot win this tournament.” This approach proved effective as Taiwan only conceded three runs throughout the series, with all of them coming against Venezuela in a 7-3 victory.

Offensively, Taiwan took advantage of four wild pitches and a passed ball. Jian Zih-De scored the team’s first run after walking to lead off the second inning and later reaching home on a wild pitch. Chen Shi-Rong scored Taiwan’s second run in the third inning due to a Nevada throwing error to first base.

In the fifth inning, Lin was caught in a rundown between third and home, but he was rescued by a deep left field throwing error that allowed both him and Tsai Yu-Ge to score.

Nevada, appearing in their first championship game, had one opportunity to break Lin’s perfect game in the fifth inning with Garrett Gallegos’ single into left field. However, Gallegos was caught in a double play when Grayson Miranda lined out to second base.

“I think you will judge this whole story, not by this one last chapter, but the whole book here,” Nevada’s manager T.J. Fescher said. “They will be heroes upon arrival in Las Vegas.”

The last international team to win the tournament was Japan in 2017.