Little League World Series 2023: California vs. Curaçao Championship Set

The 2023 Little League World Series title is set, with international champions Curaçao set to square off against the United States representatives from California following Saturday's results.

Curaçao defeated Chinese Taipei in the international title game, while California topped Texas to claim top U.S. honors.

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Caribbean 2, Asia-Pacific 0

This result was borderline mind-boggling. Curaçao did have experience heading into the tournament, but Asia-Pacific had been prolific thus far.

The team had outscored opponents 25-1 heading into the international final, including a 9-1 drubbing of the same Caribbean team on Wednesday. They had only surrendered two hits heading into the final, and actually only allowed the same amount in this game.

The difference came with the bats as Curaçao's ace held the opponent's bats to just a single hit, and some small ball in the fourth inning gave Curaçao all of the run support it would need.

This Curaçao team has shown a knack of winning tight contests, as all four of their victories have featured a two-run margin or less.

West 6, Southwest 1

The boys from California had to fight even longer in the loser's bracket as they fell to this very Southwest team 3-1 on Monday. D.J. Jablonski held them at bay in that game but the West erupted this time, getting four runs off the Texas ace .

Louis Lappe was the star on the mound in this one, allowing three hits to the Southwest team while striking out 10 batters. He also had five RBIs and a home run in the effort.

Outlook on Championship

The West region has won the Little League World Series five times since 2001, with California contributing two of those victories. The Caribbean has won the tournament only once, but it was the same Pabao Little League team from Curaçao that took home that title in 2004.

The final is set to be played Sunday at 3:00 P.M. ET after the third-place game between Asia-Pacific and Southwest.