This Is How to Win the Little League World Series

Louis Lappe of El Segundo, California, hits a game-ending home run
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 28, 2023 6:15 AM CDT

The Little League World Championship belongs to an American team thanks to a dramatic game-ending home run from a 12-year-old. Louis Lappe won the game for El Segundo, California, with a towering solo homer in the sixth and final inning to break a 5-5 tie against Curacao in the title game on Sunday, reports USA Today. Watch the hit and celebration in this video, via ESPN. "My mentality was just get the next guy up and if we kept doing that, we would've won either way. But I'll take the homer," Lappe said afterward.

Lappe was not only a star hitter for his team—he led the tournament with five home runs—he was also a star pitcher, notes the Sporting News. The 6-foot-1 player, who is three months shy of his 13th birthday, is nicknamed "The Natural" for obvious reasons. As the site notes, it's "pretty common for players in the Little League World Series to both pitch and hit, but few do it as well as Louis Lappe." (More Little League World Series stories.)

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