Louis Lappe hit a walk-off home run and California defeated Curacao 6-5 in Sunday’s Little League World Series Championship despite giving up a four-run lead.
Louis threw his bat around and threw his arms in the air as he trotted around bases and jumped onto home plate before being greeted by his teammates who surrounded the batter’s box. As the leadoff hitter at the bottom of the sixth inning, Louis threw the second pitch he saw just behind the left field fence.
Curacao leveled the game in the fifth set with a grand slam from Nasir El-Ossais down the middle. Nasir also drove a run in the third round. Jaxon Kalish and Lucas Keldorf each drove two runs for California.
For the team from El Segundo, a community in the Los Angeles area, it was the first trip to the finals. California’s eight titles are the most of any US state.
Curacao, a small island off the coast of Venezuela that has a population of just 150,000, has represented the international side of the group in the championship for the past three non-American teams’ appearances — in 2019, 2022 and this year — but has done so every time times lost.
There was no tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 tournament was restricted to American teams due to travel restrictions.
Curacao returned with five players and their coaching staff from the side that lost 13-3 to Hawaii in the 2022 final.
Both California and Curacao suffered losses during the tournament and had to fight their way through the elimination rounds to the finals. As the number of pitches in the squads increased, each turned to less experienced LLWS starters.
Crew O’Connor ran for El Segundo with a single to left field that followed Max Baker’s triple in fourth field and gave California a 5-1 lead.
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