Lake Mary, Florida, Wins LLWS Title After Defeating Taipei

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Lathan Norton was ill and didn’t play in Saturday’s Little League World Series. But he hit the winning run in the championship game Sunday.

Lathan raced home from second base on an overthrow at first base, bringing Lake Mary, Florida, back to beat Chinese Taipei 2-1 in eight innings to claim the title.

“It was the best feeling ever,” said Lathan, who had a fever of 102 on Saturday but recovered for the championship. “I still haven’t had time to let it all sink in, but it feels like the most amazing thing ever.”

Taipei held on to a 1-0 lead from the first inning until Florida came to its final at-bat. The Southeast Region representatives outscored Taipei and had a runner on third base in three separate innings, but were unable to score a run.

Then, in the bottom of the sixth, Florida got runners on first and second, and DeMarcos Mieses, who had been retired in his previous two at-bats, delivered. He drove the leadoff into shallow left, giving Chase Anderson enough time to sprint home and tie the game.

In the eighth, Lathan was legally placed at second base to start the inning. Hunter Alexander bunted and the throw to first base went into the outfield. Florida players poured out of the dugout while Taipei players collapsed.

“I just thought, ‘Stay honest, stay honest,'” Hunter said. “After that ball goes by me, I’m like, ‘Let’s go!'”

Taipei got two consecutive singles to start the game. After a bunt that got the runners across the line and then a popout, Hu Yen-Chun hit a ball to third that deflected off James Feliciano. Chiu Wei-Che scored easily. But it was Taipei’s only run.

This is the first championship in nine tries for Florida, which also came from behind in a 10-7 semifinal win over Texas on Saturday, scoring five runs in its final at-bat.

“We came here to do something,” Florida manager Jonathan Anderson said. “We came here to do a job, and today we did that job. We lost to Texas, we fought all the way back and now we’re here to talk about how we won this whole thing.”

Taipei was a dominant team at the LLWS from 1969, when it won its first championship, to 1996, when it claimed its 17th. But it had reached the title game only once since a 2009 loss to California before Sunday. Lee Cheng-Ta was manager of both that team and this year’s club, Kuei-Shan Little League of Taoyuan. He led the same team — with a completely different roster — to a third-place finish last season.

Coaches from Taipei, who represent the Asia-Pacific region, refused to attend the post-match press conference.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.