EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—The Little League World Series champions from El Segundo were honored on the field on the evening of Aug. 29 at Dodger Stadium.
The team was introduced during a pregame ceremony. Louis Lappe took a microphone and said, “It’s every kid’s dream and I lived it,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
Lappe’s homer leading off the bottom of the sixth and final inning gave El Segundo a 6-5 victory and the championship over the all-star team from the Willemstad, Curacao-based Pabao Little League on Aug. 27 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
The 6-foot-1-inch Lappe got an autograph from Dodgers’ outfielder Mookie Betts and told the newspaper, “I’m taller than him, which is crazy.”
Betts is listed as being 5 feet, 9 inches tall.
Dodgers’ rookie outfielder James Outman greeted the team by saying, “What’s up champions?” The newspaper reported.
Manager Danny Boehle told KCAL, “These kids deserve all the credit in the world,”
“They worked hard to get there,” Mr. Boehle said. “I don’t think they actually know what they did. I think in about 10 years when we get back together at a reunion, they’re going to realize how special it is and how hard it is to go out there and become a family and win everything and bring it home.”
The team gave interviews with nationwide media at its home field earlier on Tuesday.
The team returned to the Southland Monday and was treated to a hero’s welcome, with hundreds of people lining Main Street in El Segundo to greet the squad as it was carried in a caravan along the city’s main route. It was a preview of the official championship parade, which will be held on the same street on Sept. 10.
The El Segundo team arrived at Los Angeles International Airport around 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 28, and were immediately met by reporters and television cameras. After gathering their things, the team made the short drive to El Segundo for the boisterous crawl down Main Street.
“We’ve been on the road for a long time, and these boys are itching to come home and celebrate with their family here,” Mr. Boehle told reporters at the airport. “And we just couldn’t be more happy with the outcome and the way these guys respected the city of El Segundo, the state of California, and the United States of America.”
“It’s been an incredible journey. They finished the mission they started three years ago, and I love them all and I can’t wait to celebrate with our town.”
Mr. Boehle got choked up as he talked about the resilience of the team.
“When it sinks in, it'll get more emotional for me,” he said. “... It’s unbelievable and historic and monumental, and the memories that these kids will have, as well as with their coaches, will last a lifetime.”
El Segundo had to overcome multiple challenges en route to becoming the fourth Los Angeles County team to win the Little League World Series.
Several players were afflicted with a stomach virus when the World Series began Aug. 17. El Segundo had to win three consecutive games in three days to reach the U.S. championship game after being relegated to the elimination bracket of the modified double-elimination tournament with a 3-1 loss to the all-star team from the Needville Little League team from Texas.
El Segundo avenged that loss with a 6-1 victory over Needville in the U.S. championship game Saturday.
El Segundo was 20-2 in five tournaments this summer. Its other loss was to the all-star team from the Sherman Oaks Little League, 4-3, in the opening game of the championship series of the Southern California State Tournament on July 31. It won the rematch, 3-2, later that day.
This is second consecutive year Willemstad lost in the championship game. Five players returned from the team that lost to the all-star team from the Honolulu Little League, 13-3, in the 2022 final, in a game called in the fourth inning because of the run rule.
This was the fifth time a team from Curacao has advanced to the championship game, all from the Pabao Little League. Willemstad won in 2004, but also lost in 2005 and 2019 in addition to 2022 and 2023.
The other Los Angeles County teams to win the Little League World Series were the all-star teams from the Granada Hills National Little League in 1963 and the Long Beach Little League in 1992 and 1993.
