BASEBALL LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES : Taiwan Resumes Dominance With Victory

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Taiwan won its 14th Little League World Series in 17 appearances when Sun Chao-Chi pitched a two-hitter and struck out 16 in a 9-0 victory Sunday over Shippensburg, Pa.

In the first rain-delayed title game of the Little League championship, Sun struck out the first eight batters and drove in the game’s first run.

“He probably had the best curveball we’ve seen, and he could throw the fastball for strikes,” Shippensburg Coach Glen Orndorff said. “He had us swinging at some bad pitches and that’s not us. We didn’t teach them that way. He had us doing it.”

The championship was held on a Sunday for the first time in the tournament’s 44-year history after two quarterfinal games were postponed two days because of rain.

Taiwan reached the title game by defeating Ramstein AFB, West Germany, 14-0; and Trail, British Columbia, 20-1.

Last season, the Taiwan team was beaten by a group of 12-year-olds from Trumbull, Conn. Until last year, Taiwanese teams had won three consecutive World Series titles and 13 of the previous 22.

It didn’t take long for Taiwan to get back on top, either.

Liu Chien-Wen doubled in the first inning off Bobby Shannon and scored the only run Taiwan would need two pitches later when Sun singled to right. Taiwan added four runs each in the fourth and fifth innings.

“The other team, they were bland in using a power pitcher. I knew he wouldn’t last more than three innings,” Taiwan Coach Tzyy-Tsann Wang said.

“There’s more than power to baseball. There’s strategy and skills. You have to train your players to be proficient in their art.”

Shippensburg didn’t make contact until the third inning when Gregg Mellott reached first on a bunt single after Chuck Halter walked. After a Taiwan attempt to draw the runners off base with a hidden-ball play, David Orndorff grounded into a fielder’s choice.

Taiwan scored four runs in the fourth inning on three hits and a passed ball. Hsieh Yih-Chieh walked and Chen Chien-Wei singled. Chang Cheng-Pang’s sacrifice bunt moved the runners up, and Chen Chang-Ming followed with a run-scoring single.

Chen Chien-Wei scored on Yang’s single, and Chen Chang-Ming beat the throw to the plate after Chen Chin-Feng’s grounder back to the pitcher. Yang scored on a passed ball.

Three errors by Shippensburg led to three runs in the fifth inning and Chen Chien-Wei added a home run. In all, the Americans made five errors leading to four unearned runs.

“The first time up, they were too anxious. They were swinging for the fences,” Wang said. “I told them to relax, choke up and go for base hits. That’s when the hits started coming.”

Shippensburg was the first Pennsylvania team to appear in the title game in 23 years.