Louisiana Crushes Curacao 8-0 to Capture 2019 LLWS World Championship

Louisiana defeated Curacao 8-0 in the world championship for the 2019 Little League World Series on Sunday at Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

This is the third time in four years the United States was victorious against the international champion, and it's the first LLWS title for Louisiana.

Egan Prather threw a complete game, allowing two hits and striking out six to help secure the championship. Marshall Louque was the standout performer on offense, going 3-for-3 with three RBI.

Louisiana wasted little time getting on the board in the first inning. Derek DeLatte singled to start the game and came around to score on a double by Louque.

Louque was inches away from a two-run home run in the third inning, settling instead for an RBI double to make it a 2-0 game.

Curacao was in a great position to score its first run and possibly tie the game in the bottom of the third after loading the bases with one out. Prather danced out of danger as Curley Martha grounded into a fielder's choice and Jurdrick Profar was tagged at home trying to score on a wild pitch.

Louisiana broke the game open in the fifth, putting four runs across the plate. Louque had a hand in the outburst, stroking a single to right to score Reece Roussel, who was on second following an RBI double.

The damage might have been worse were it not for some slick fielding by Curacao pitcher I-Zion Mogen. He reacted quickly to collect a ground ball up the middle by Conner Perrot and fired to second to start a double play.

Not content with a six-run lead, Louisiana tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning to further diminish Curacao's hopes of a late comeback.

Prather left little room for drama as he set Curacao down in order to clinch the win. Martha, the game's final batter, didn't go down without a fight. He fouled off 10 pitches before lining out to shortstop Stan Wiltz.

By prevailing Sunday, Louisiana became the first team to earn the LLWS title after losing its first game of the World Series. It fell 5-2 to Hawaii on Aug. 16 before reeling off five straight wins, including a 9-5 victory over Hawaii in the U.S. championship to gain a measure of revenge.

During that stretch, the squad from Eastbank Little League outscored its opponents 36-8.

Sunday was the culmination of a dominant run by Louisiana to seal a world championship.