Irvine’s Master Plan Is Demolished by Taiwan, 21-1

An estimated crowd of 35,000 packed Howard J. Lamade Stadium two hours before Saturday’s Little League World Series championship game, eagerly awaiting the showdown between the Northwood All-Star team from Irvine and Hua Lian, Taiwan.

During pregame festivities, fans bopped to the beat of a brass band, clapped along with the patriotic tunes of an Army marching band and laughed at the antics of the Phillie Phanatic.

There were Olympic-type chants of “USA! USA!” Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth gave a speech, and Tom Seaver threw out the first pitch.

This scene on a sunny day wasn’t a slice of Americana. It was the whole pie.

Then the game started and ruined everything.

Taiwan scored five runs in the first inning, nine in the second and seven in the third on its way to a 21-1 rout and the World Series title.

For many who had arrived as early as 7 a.m. to stake out a good seat, the party was over before it got into full swing.

By the third inning, some people headed for the exits, and large patches of grass appeared on the hill beyond the outfield fence, which had been blanketed by a swarm of fans at game time.

It wasn’t so much the loss that disappointed the crowd. People here are used to seeing American teams get beat up by the Taiwanese, who have won 12 titles in the last 17 years.

What was so frustrating was the lopsided score and the sloppy game the Americans played. The fans were expecting a contest, not a conquest.

If there was an American team to challenge Taiwan, Irvine seemed to be it. Of its 18 straight wins, 12 were shutouts, including 10 by ace right-hander Aron Garcia, Saturday’s starter.

Irvine was on a roll, having played two outstanding World Series games to defeat Dover, N.H., 13-0, and Chesterfield, Ind., 8-1, and the players had to be even more fired up when the team theme song, “La Bamba,” blared over the public-address system before the game.

But when it started, Irvine got La Bombed.

Taiwan loaded the bases in the first inning on an error and three walks, and all three runners scored on successive wild pitches by Garcia.

But that was only the start of it. Taiwan scored nine runs in the second inning on seven hits, including Pang Yu-Long’s grand slam over the right-center field fence.

Yu-Long also hit a two-run homer in the third inning, when Taiwan scored seven runs on four hits. Wang Chih-Kwou and Lin Yi-Hung added two-run homers in the inning, with Chih-Kwou’s blast carrying well over the left-field fence and landing on the top of the hill.

Irvine, which had made only one error in two previous World Series games, made five Saturday, and Garcia, who threw a no-hitter in the first game, walked six and threw four wild pitches.

That left Manager Bob Garcia feeling a little helpless in the dugout.

“I wish I could have put on a uniform, gone out there and done something,” he said.

Irvine finally did in the third inning, scoring its only run when Geoff Ebdon stole home after Taiwan catcher Shih Gin-Shou had tried to pick Garcia off at second.

Garcia pitched 2 innings--long enough to give up 21 runs (13 earned) and 13 hits. Fans and television viewers had to be wondering what the 12-year-old son of the manager did to deserve such prolonged agony.

Actually, Bob Garcia left his son on the mound so long because he didn’t think he had anyone else to turn to.

Little League rules prohibit players from pitching in consecutive games, and his No. 2 and 3 pitchers, Chris Greinke and Ryan Jones, each pitched in Thursday’s semifinal victory over Chesterfield.

Garcia’s No. 4 pitcher, second baseman Ryan O’Toole, had a sore thumb, but the manager had to go to him in the third inning. Enough was enough.

O’Toole, 11, surprisingly held Taiwan hitless over the last 2 innings.

Yi-Hung, Taiwan’s starter, went the distance, allowing six hits and striking out nine. The hard-throwing right-hander walked only two.

Taiwan, which improved its World Series record to 40-2, set championship game records for most runs scored in a game--breaking the previous high of 16, set by Maynard Little League of Williamsport in 1947--and margin of victory. There had been three 12-0 games in the series’ 41-year history.

“They have done their best today,” Taiwan Manager Liu Ming-Kuang said through an interpreter.

Bob Garcia couldn’t say the same for his team.

“My team has never played like it did today,” he said. “After the first inning, we petered out and were totally frustrated. I think these kids are ready to go home.”

Garcia also announced afterward that he was through coaching baseball.

“This is my last game,” he said. “I’m going to become a spectator and see what it’s all about.”

Saturday’s game was tough to watch for the coaches, the players and the 80 family members and friends who made the trip to Williamsport.

It was an unfitting ending to an incredible season, in which Irvine played seven weeks of all-star competition and outscored its opponents, 156-44.

The players didn’t go out in the kind of style that got them to the championship game--good pitching, good hitting and sound defense.

“I said the only way we would lose was if we beat ourselves, and that’s exactly what happened,” Garcia said.

Not exactly. Taiwan helped a bit, too.