DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Players from Chinese Taipei celebrate during Friday’s game against Australia at Volunteer Stadium.

Despite running it back for a second straight trip to the Little League World Series, Kuei-Shan Little League has made its return without a single member from its 2023 squad. That team took third at last year’s event and appeared well on its way to a shot at the title before losing in upset fashion to Curaçao.

Even still, that prior group of players is still making an impact on this team.

In the months leading up to the event, as Kuei-Shan LL worked to earn its bid, former Chinese Taipei players gave the team advice and told them stories about their time in Williamsport.

“This team is all brand new, but they were in fifth grade when last year’s team was in sixth grade,” said Chinese Taipei manager Lee Cheng-Ta, who’s experiencing the event for the fourth time since 2009. “They talked to their elders after they graduated from elementary school. They look up to them.”

Day One starting pitcher Lai Cheng-Xi received advice from last year’s ace, Fan Chen-Jun, who told him to relax and just try to do his best. Cheng-Xi proceeded to pitch a gem on Thursday, coming four outs away from pitching the eighth perfect game in Little League World Series history.

“I’ve been looking forward to this game quite a bit,” said Cheng-Xi after the performance. “I know that it’s very important, especially the first game.”

There are clear differences between the squads. Last year, ace pitcher Fan Chen-Jun took the world by storm as one of the biggest stars on the international side of the bracket.

He was joined by catcher Chen Kai-Sheng and infielder Wu Yun-Hsi on the Sun-Gazette Little League All Star team – players that warranted praise for their impact. And though this team could certainly produce all-stars again this season, there isn’t an expectation that they’ll match the star power of Chen-Jun.

“They know that there was a special talent last year,” said Cheng-Ta, referring to Chen-Jun. “There’s no particular (player) like last year that’s extremely good.”

But that doesn’t mean he’s less confident in this squad. Where they lack star power, they make up for in well roundedness.

“But this group, the batting and the pitching as a team is pretty good. This year, everybody’s good,” continued Cheng-Ta.

“With teamwork, they won the Taiwan championship and the Asia Pacific Region to get here. So, I was very proud of these guys because they were able to work as a team to get here.”

That team-oriented style has been on display through its first few games at Volunteer Stadium, particularly in its second game.

After Cheng-Xi pitched 4 2/3 innings on Wednesday, Chinese Taipei put three different pitchers on the mound in Lin Sheng-Kai, Chiu Wei-Che and Yu Teng-Hao for their Friday matchup against Australia. Together, they pitched a one-hit shutout and combined for seven strikeouts.

Offensively, nine players have logged at least one hit through their first two games, four of which have attributed multiple. From top to bottom, its lineup has proven capable of impacting the game, a valuable factor for any team looking to make a deep run.

This year, they (have been) able to work (with) teamwork and that’s very important,” emphasized Cheng-Ta.

Chinese Taipei will see its biggest test so far on Monday, where it looks to overcome a Cuba team that harbors a lot of momentum after its exciting win over the Czech Republic. In pursuit of building off its third-place finish at last year’s event, every game is tremendously important.

“”Whoever comes to Williamsport is a very good team, so no one (on our team) is going to go easy,” said Chinese Taipei manager Lee Chang-Ta. “Every game, we’re going to play our hardest and hopefully we can do our best and (continue to) perform well.”

That game begins at 5 p.m. at Volunteer Stadium.