SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Andy Rios couldn’t wait to get home to Southern California to have some French fries.
There’s a big victory meal upcoming back in Chula Vista.
Bulla Graft’s sharp single scored the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and Kiko Garcia pitched three-plus scoreless innings of relief to lead California to a 6-3 victory Sunday over Taoyuan, Taiwan, to win the Little League World Series.
With the U.S.-partisan crowd on its feet, Garcia closed out the victory by striking out Yu Chieh Kao, completing a comeback from a 3-0 deficit.
“We knew we could come back,” the 13-year-old Garcia said. “We always do.”
They’re surely celebrating in the San Diego suburbs after California secured the fifth straight Little League championship for the United States.
After a wild celebration around Garcia, the Californians invited Taiwan to accompany them on the customary victory lap around Lamade Stadium on a sun-splashed afternoon.
But the championship banner belonged to California.
“It seems San Diego comes so close all the time. The Padres come close and don’t win. The Chargers come close and don’t win,” manager Oscar Castro said. “It was nice to do it for the city.”
Castro sought to shield his team from the pressure of the tournament as they advanced, forbidding them to surf the Internet the last three weeks to prevent them from seeing the media exposure back home.
After falling behind 3-0, California scored a run in the third before surging ahead in the fourth. Seth Godfrey drove in a run on a sacrifice fly before Nick Conlin scored on a wild pitch.
Later, Taiwan walked slugger Luke Ramirez with two out to bring up Graft. The 12-year-old second baseman hit a 1-1 pitch to right to score Rios from third.
In the consolation game, Raymundo Berrones drove in the go-ahead runs with a two-run homer as Reynosa, Mexico, beat San Antonio 5-4.
CHAMPIONSHIP
Taoyuan, Taiwan 003 000 — 3 5 2
Chula Vista, Calif. 001 32x — 6 10 0
Ou, Lin (4), Lee (4) and Kao; Armenta, Garcia (3) and Porras, Peterson (4), Porras (5). W — Garcia. L — Lin. HR — Taiwan, Sung, Ou.
THIRD PLACE
Reynosa, Mexico 003 002 — 5 7 1
San Antonio 012 100 — 4 7 0
Rojas, Berrones (3), Maldonado (5) and Cardenas, Trevino (4); Cardone, Pollard (6) and Daves. W — Maldonado. L — Cardone. HR — Mexico, Berrones.
