DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Members of Barquisimeto, Venezuela celebrate after scoring in the second inning against Puerto Rico during the Little League World Series in South Williamsport at Volunteer Stadium.

One thing has been consistent for Barquisimeto, Venezuela this summer and that’s been outstanding defensive and pitching performances. It started throughout the Latin American Regional tournament and has continued on Wednesday at the Little League World Series at Volunteer Stadium.

For the second straight year, Venezuela opened the Series with a shutout victory and in the process, Venezuela pitcher Juan Reyes etched his name in the Venezuela history books. Reyes threw all six innings on Saturday and came up with nine strikeouts, the most for a pitcher from Venezuela at the Little League World Series since 2015.

“I just want to thank God first of all,” Reyes said. “I had all of my pitching working for me and I was hitting my spots. I thank my manager (Luis Bermudez) for the help he gave me during the game.”

Reyes did a solid job throughout the game keeping Puerto Rico’s bats quiet. The Puerto Rico champions had just three hits on Wednesday, all of which were singles by Sebastian Casanova Diaz (1 for 2), Jozen Ortiz Adorno (1 for 2) and Yabdiel Laboy Velazquez (1 for 2).

“It feels great. That’s the strongest part of our team is our pitching,” Venezuela manager Luis Bermudez said. “There’s a lot more pitching coming our way. That’s what helped us in these games.”

There’s plenty of pitching depth for Venezuela as well. Throughout the regional tournament that was evident as teams struggled to have an answer to counter Venezuela. It was at regionals where Barquisimeto outscored opponents 46-6. That included shutouts against Argentina (14-0), Ecuador (7-0), Guatemala in the semifinals (10-0) and a close 2-0 win against Ecuador in a rematch in the championship to secure a trip to South Williamsport. The only team since regionals to score against Venezuela was Costa Rica in a 13-6 loss to Venezuela in the regional tournament’s third game.

This marks Cardenales Little League of Barquisimeto’s second straight trip to South Williamsport. Last year, Venezuela finished third in the world following a 4-3 win against Boerne, Texas. While the players may want to get even further this year, the Little Leaguers from Venezuela are enjoying their time in South Williamsport.

“We’re all so happy to be here. We’re so happy to be able to get here so far,” Venezuela’s Francisco Rivera said. “All the equipment we’ve gotten to play with (is cool) and we’re just so happy to be here. It’s such a great experience.”

That equipment includes new bats from Easton which the players liked, particularly their color designs.

“They’re really pretty and we feel good using them,” Reyes said.

Venezuela didn’t have many fans and family members from Barquisimeto at the Series due to travel restrictions and limitations between Venezuela and the United States. However despite that, Bermudez said the team still feels the community support from back home through texts and phone calls.

While the fans are physically here, they’re here in spirit with well wishes.

“From our experiences we’ve spoken with them, talked by phone,we’ve been managing so far and it’s been good,” Bermudez said. “We’re happy they get in touch every day and they give us our support. A small amount of people that came from our country, we’re happy that we have all of their support.”