The winning play in the 2024 Little League World Series didn’t come on a walk-off home run, a line drive that led to a dramatic play at the plate or a pressure-packed strikeout with a full count.
Rather, it was a bunt.
With the score deadlocked at one in extra innings of the event’s championship game, Lake Mary (Florida) Little League’s Hunter Alexander laid down a bunt along the first base line. A play that was meant to advance teammate Lathan Norton from second base with no outs turned out to be something much more.
Chiu Wei-Che, the pitcher for opposing Chinese Taipei, ran off the mound, scooped up the ball and threw to first base to try to record the out. The problem, though, was his first baseman, in an apparent moment of miscommunication, abandoned his post, meaning the pitcher threw the ball to an unoccupied bag, allowing Norton to score the game-winning run in a 2-1 victory for Lake Mary.
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The lead was the team’s first all game, as it had trailed 1-0 virtually the entire afternoon before notching the game-tying run in the bottom of the sixth inning, when DeMarcos Mieses hit a bloop RBI single to left field with his team down to its final out.
The Little League World Series title is the first ever for a team from Florida.