SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — Taiwan couldn’t get much going at the plate on Saturday. But the way starter Lai Cheng-Xi was pitching, it didn’t matter.

Lai struck out 12 batters and allowed just three hits in 5 1/3 innings as the Asia-Pacific representative beat Venezuela 4-1 to advance to the Little League World Series championship.

“He’s the ace pitcher for the team and he shows leadership,” manager Lee Cheng-Ta said through an interpreter. “He’s calm and he works hard, so every time we’ve had an important game he’s always the one to be carrying the responsibility.”

Taiwan also managed only three hits but collected eight walks and scored twice on wild pitches.

Taiwan will face the winner of the Florida-Texas semifinal, to be played later Saturday, in the title game on Sunday. In its 32nd LLWS appearance, Taiwan has a chance to win it all for the first time since 1996 — though it has claimed the tournament title 17 times, more than any other international team, including a run of five straight from 1977-81.

Kuei-Shan Little League from Taoyuan, Taiwan, made it to the semifinal on the international side of the bracket in 2023 but ultimately settled for third place. Cheng-Ta brought the team back to South Williamsport but with an entirely different roster.

José Perez took the mound for Venezuela with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the third. Yu Chia-Jai walked on five pitches and put his arms up in joy looking toward his dugout as Chen Bo-Wei walked home. The play made the score only 2-0, but it felt like a turning point with Lai in control.

“I was telling the kids to be aggressive in batting, but the kids are trained enough to know what is going to be a ball or strike so if you see a ball, you know, don’t just chase for it,” Cheng-Ta said.

As Lai racked up strikeouts, Venezuela struggled to consistently find the strike zone. Wild pitches proved costly from the start. In the first inning, a pitch from starter Luis Yepez reached the backstop, allowing Chiu Wei-Che to safely slide home and put Taiwan on the board.

Venezuela opened its first at-bat with a single to left by Luis, and a sacrifice bunt moved him to second. But Lai ended the Latin America threat by striking out the next two batters.

In the fifth, Taiwan picked up another run when Luis and Samuel Carrasquel collided in shallow center trying to catch a fly ball for the inning’s final out. Chen, who singled to left in the previous at-bat, had plenty of time to run home and increase the lead to four.

Venezuela finally mounted a threat in the sixth, putting runners on second and third when Abraham Lucena doubled to right. A groundout got one run home but Simon Vicheria grounded back to Chiu, who had moved to relief pitcher, to end the game.

“We’re going to celebrate for a few minutes, maybe an hour,” Cheng-Ta said. “Afterwards tonight, we’re going to focus on what’s for tomorrow.”

___

Amanda Vogt is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.