Chicago Little Leaguers Come Up Short Vs S. Korea
24 Aug, 2014
Moments after South Korea won the Little League World Series, outfielder Don Wan Sin realized how he wanted to celebrate.
“I want to go to the Blue House – the White House of Korea – and meet the President,” Sin said, breaking up his teammates.
Just maybe Sin, who scored twice and hit a solo homer, will indeed get his wish to meet Park Geun-hye.
He’s famous back in his homeland – along with all of his teammates.
Jae Yeong Hwang drove in two runs and combined with Hae Chan Choi, who weathered a late Chicago rally, to lead the Asia-Pacific Region champions to an 8-4 win in Sunday’s LLWS championship game.
Hwang, who was removed because he wasn’t feeling well, gave up one hit in two-plus innings while striking out four. He also drove in his team’s first two runs as they built an 8-1 lead before Jackie Robinson West made it close.
“I’m very joyful. It’s a wonderful feeling,” Hwang said. “I don’t know why I’m even here; I didn’t play very good today.”
Choi, who had a homer and scored twice, pitched the last four innings for South Korea, which won its third title after back-to-back championships in 1984 and `85.
International teams have won the last three and four of the last five titles.
Brandon Green went 5 2-3 innings for Chicago, which had survived four straight knockout games before the final.
After the final out, a force play, the Seoul team’s bench emptied and the players dumped cups of water on their teammates near the mound. The players took a victory lap, waving and laughing.
The win meant a lot to the people of South Korea, who had to watch it or get updates in the middle of the night.
Chicago, the Great Lakes Region champions, came back from 3-0 and 5-4 deficits to beat favored West champ Las Vegas Mountain Ridge 7-5 in the U.S. title game on Saturday. Earlier, South Korea, the Asia-Pacific Region winner, rolled over Japan, 12-3.
But they couldn’t come back against the powerful South Koreans, who asserted themselves early.
“(We) felt like we had a chance even when we were down 8-1,” Chicago manager Darold Butler said. “(South Korea) had a pretty good game. They were the better team today.”
AP
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