The Caribbean regional powerhouse has made the Little League World Series 12 times since 2001 with nine straight berths from 2001-09. But in the past two years, the tournament was canceled once and closed off to international teams the next.

Well, Curaçao has let its presence be well known after tearing up the elimination bracket to reach the International Semifinal against Chinese Taipei. With a trip to the Little League World Series Championship game — and its season — on the line, Willemstad once again hung in there.

In a defensive trudge where leverage was as scarce as the amount of teams remaining in the tournament, Curaçao outlasted Chinese Taipei, 1-0 to advance to the World Title game.

“It’s so big because our people started believing in us. In the beginning we said we can go so deep,” Curaçao manager Zaino Everett said. “During the tournament, they started to believe because we come out and do our job. Put up some runs, win and come up with a W.”

Jaythan Codilia (left), Davey-Jay Rijke (center), Joshua Acosta (right) celebrate after Rijke caught a fly ball over the center field wall hit by Wang Yuan-Fu of Taiwan in the top of the sixth at the 2022 Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Aug. 27, 2022. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Curaçao second baseman Alexander Provacia bunted and reached second base on an error — just Fu-Lin’s second of the tournament — to kick off the bottom of the third inning.

He then worked his way to third on a wild pitch before two strikeouts. Jaydion Louisa drove him in with a base hit to right field to snap the scoreless, defensive chess match between both international squads.

“It means so much that when I got to the dugout, I cried because I knew we were going to win this game and go to the big Final,” Louisa said.

Provacia added, “I was ready for the bunt, got the bunt done and you saw what happened next.”

THAT BALL HAD EYES
Curacao takes a 1-0 lead in the third inning of the International Championship game#LLWS pic.twitter.com/uJrEODtrfF

— Little League (@LittleLeague) August 27, 2022

Against a Fu-Lin offense that features four players — Tseng Yi-Che (.455), Wang Yuan-Fu (.500), Li Fang-Mo (375) and Liao Yuan-Shu (.300) — who are all batting .300 or better in the tournament, Curaçao was a steel curtain in the field despite getting outhit 4-3. The error, though, was enough to make up for the lack of hot bats.

“Our pitcher, Li, he performed very well today. Competing against Curaçao, we don’t have room for error. We cannot relax,” Chinese Taipei manager Chang Tzu-Chien said. “Basically, he just missed one single from the coach and the baserunner advanced one base and that cost us the game. We believe Curaçao is a good team and there’s no room for error.”

Fang-Mo pitched five innings and struck out nine. Chinese Taipei had a promising start by putting runners in scoring position in the opening frame, but couldn’t bank a run. In the bottom half, however, Curaçao went down in order with two strikeouts and a lineout to the third baseman.

But Willemstad’s club returned the favor immediately, tacking on a strikeout, fly out and pop out to knock down Taipei City 1-2-3 in response to kick off the second inning. By the end of the second inning, both teams had one hit apiece. Fu-Lin’s club went down in order for three straight innings after the first.

“Chinese Taipei has a good team. It’s just the same concept, you have to put the ball down and trust in our defense to do their job,” Everett said.

It wasn’t until the top of the fifth inning Taipei City reached base again once Wu Hsuan-Hung led off the frame with a base hit. Two singles later, Fu-Lin had its bases loaded with two outs.

Qshondrickson Doran relieved Reangelo Decaster (four strikeouts) — who had to come out after reaching 86 on his count — and on his very first pitch, forced a fly out to left field to leave the bases loaded. Decaster tallied all four of Willemstad’s strikeouts.

After going down in order in the fifth, Curaçao had to rely on its one-run lead heading into the top of the sixth inning. Chinese Taipei was once again held at bay, highlighted by Rijke stealing a would-be home run at the centerfield wall.

Robbing a home run with a Championship on the line. ????

It doesn't get better! #LLWS75 pic.twitter.com/rMjsgtzlV0

— Little League (@LittleLeague) August 27, 2022

“I believe this was a very beautiful game. Curaçao is a great competitor. They won beautifully and we also tried our best and have no regret,” Tzu-Chien said. “They just played a little better than we did and we’re still very proud of our team.”

Curaçao will play United States champion Hawaii in the Little League World Series Championship at 3 p.m. Sunday at Lamade Stadium. Chinese Taipei will face United States runner-up Tennessee in the third-place match at 10 a.m. at Lamade.