The 2023 Junior League World Series came to a close Sunday afternoon at Heritage Park in Taylor with the playing of its world championship game.
The finale featured some local flare for the first time ever as the tournament’s host team from Taylor North Little League battled the Asia-Pacific Region champions from Chinese Taipei.
Taylor North put together a good run and a tough battle but the perennial powerhouse from Taipei was simply too much to handle. The international champions ultimately ended up ousting the locals by a scoring of 6-0.
PHOTO GALLERY: Junior League World Series Championship – Taylor North vs Chinese Taipei
The win gives Taipei their ninth overall Junior League World Series title, more than any other region in the 41 years of the event. All nine championships have come in the last 12 tournaments dating back to 2010.
"We were in the dugout talking about (Taipei's) fundamentals," Taylor North head coach Rick Thorning said after the game. "Not only that, but their placement too and the coaching that comes with it. They are who they are and where they are because of the coaching.
"They are fun to watch," Thorning continued. "Even when you're playing against them, they are fun to watch. You're going to battle them and want to beat them but you also sit and watch and enjoy the show they put on."
Taipei got things going early in the bottom of the first on Sunday. A one-out double put the de facto true road team from overseas up 1-0.
Fortunately for Taipei, that was all the run support necessary for starting pitcher Chih-Hsu Huang, who allowed just two hits and needed only 75 pitches in his complete game shutout effort.
Sunday's game was just the latest of a strong week for Taipei overall. After losing their tournament opener againt Puerto Rico by a score of 2-1 a week prior on August 13, the Asia-Pacific representatives went on to outscore their next five opponents, 40-3.
And all three of those runs came in the international championship game a day prior against Curacao, whom they defeated by a score of 8-3.
Given their short-term and long-term track record of dominance, Thorning knew there was little no no margin for error coming into the game on Sunday, especially more so once they fell behind early.
"We knew when we fell behind, we still had a shot," Thorning said. "We still had a chance to break some stuff open there. Once you fall behind against a team like that, it is hard to come back. It becomes hard to string multiple hits together."
Huang retired 12 straight Taylor North batters to start the game. Taipei was kept off the board in the second and third innings before they tacked on three big two-out runs in the fourth, highlighted by a two-run home run off the bat of Po-Cheng Wu, giving Taipei a 4-0 lead.
The fifth inning proved to be a critical one for both teams.
Taylor North in the top half finally managed to put some runners on base. Back-to-back singles from Kole Boike and Cam Thorning to begin the inning put the locals in business with nobody out.
Unfortunately, that rally quickly evaporated. Huang was able to induce a ground ball double play off the bat of Jackson Surma, followed by another ground ball out of Jakob Furkas to end the inning.
Taipei was able to parlay getting out of that jam into momentum of their own in the bottom of the fifth inning. A sacrifice fly and an RBI single put two more runs on the board for the visitors, capping off the scoring on the evening.
"That's what it is, momentum," Thorning said. "You look for that momentum shift. And just when you're about to get the shift and it doesn't happen, it is hard. That is the game of baseball sometimes. You try to get it back and when you do, it's great. If not, it is tough to get it going."
Taylor North was retired in order over the final two frames to end the game.
Lucas Farner started on the mound for the host team, allowing four runs on three hits and three walks over four innings of work. Boike and Cam Thorning each pitched an inning in relief.
Despite being shut out in the loss, the elder Thorning by and large felt his team put together good at-bats and made solid contact. Huang finished with only five strikeouts on the game, three of which came when he struck out the side in the third.
"We hit the ball well today," Thorning said. "We hit the ball hard several times and it seemed to be right at (Taipei fielders). And if it wasn't right at them, they were going to the right spots."
The loss is the lone blemish in what was otherwise a strong and historic week at the Junior League World Series for Taylor North.
Of the nine host teams (fourth from Michigan District No. 5) to participate in the Junior League World Series, Taylor North became the first to win three games in the tournament and reach the overall championship game.
On top of that, the locals got to play in their own backyard and in front of their hometown fans for a second consecutive season.
"It's been unbelievable," Thorning said. "It's almost emotional when you sit and think about the amount of people who support you, thanking you, and congratulating you. You see the looks of happiness on so many faces from playing good baseball, and it's faces of kids who live down the street from them.
"It's been great to see that support from them and see the interactions with the kids."
