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David Doleguita LL back to LLWS for first time in 33 years; excited to play

By Jon Gerardi 4 min read

Ask anyone who ever played baseball what their dream was when they were a kid and majority will tell you it was hoping to get to the Little League World Series as an 11- or 12-year-old kid.

It was the ultimate goal for any kid who played baseball to try and reach the mountain top. Few can say they got to do so as a player. Even fewer can say they did so as a coach.

Like many when he was a kid, Panama's Edwin Del Cid Peren had that same dream to get to South Williamsport in his youth. He didn't get to as a 12-year-old, but as an adult, he's now here as Panama's manager.

Consider it a dream accomplished, even if it is a little delayed for him.

"It's a dream come true, I feel happy about it," Del Cid Peren said. Since I was a kid I've been playing baseball, so it's been my dream to make it here to Williamsport. It's a dream for the kids who are here representing their country."

Del Cid Peren helped coach his group of 11- and 12-year-olds to South Williamsport from David Doleguita Little League in Chiriqui, Panama. The league won the title this year in a tough region in which they went 11-3 at regionals alone.

It's the first time the league has qualified for the Series since 1993. It was at that Series 33 years ago that David Doleguita Little League reached the World Series championship game after winning the International title and fell to repeat winner Long Beach, California.

David Doleguita Little League qualified in 2021 for the World Series, but the COVID-19 pandemic which was still ongoing prevented International teams from coming to the Series. It was then revised to a United States-only tournament.

Now David Doleguita Little League is glad to be back after three decades and hoping to have success.

"It was something special (to qualify). We are happy for it. We did have a direct spot in 2021 but the pandemic wouldn't let us make it," Del Cid Peren said. "We did win in 2021, but we couldn't make it to Williamsport."

Panama was the first of the 20 teams this year to qualify for the World Series, doing so on March 20. It's been a long five months since then but Del Cid Peren and his assistants do what they can to keep Panama's players ready to compete.

That includes a lot of practices and exhibition and scrimmages against teams with players older than them to get them used to fast pitching and good hitters.

"We started practicing three or four times during the week and weekends we would play with kids older than them," Del Cid Peren said. "Different categories older than them and emotionally, we have a doctor, a psychologist, who's working with the kids and hopefully he'll try to get here within a couple of days."

Panama is more than battle tested entering the Little League World Series. In addition to playing 14 games at regionals, the all-stars from David Doleguita Little League also had to play an additional 13 games prior to that. Twenty-eight games in a single summer is a lot for any team, but it means the players are prepared for just about any scenario, including pitching depth and pitch count management.

"It's very difficult," Del Cid Peren said. "We played almost 28 games to get here and it was tough. It was very tough. That's a lot of games that have to be played just to get here, and we did that."

Chiriqui, Panama lost the opener of a best-of-three championship series at regionals to Panama Oeste, 3-2, before winning two straight, 8-7 and 8-4 to head to South Williamsport.

The team never panicked when it lost that first game and had to battle to win two straight to win the title. With their backs against the wall, Panama battled and won.

That happens to be the team's biggest strength according to Del Cid Peren.

"They're fighters and we have a nice union between them," Del Cid Peren said. "They bond very well. I think that's the best thing about this team."

And now Panama will get to show what it's made of at the Little League World Series. That long five-month wait since late March is over as the team opens the Series with a game at Volunteer Stadium on Friday against the winner of Wednesday's Nicaragua and Dominican Republic game.

Panama seems to have a well-rounded team as well, as the pitching, defense and offense all seem to complement one another and help the team secure victories this summer.

Starting at /week.