Caribbean claims Little League World Series championship

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- Carlos Pineda struck out 11 and Jurickson Profar hit a two-run homer as Pabao Little League of Willemstad, Curacao, took an early lead and held on for a 5-2 victory over Conejo Valley of Thousand Oaks, Calif., in the Little League World Series championship Sunday night.\nCalifornia scored both of its runs in the top of the sixth, and had runners on first and third with two outs. James Brady hit to first baseman Christopher Garia, who won a race to make the final out.\nIt was the first Little League title for the tiny island in the Netherlands Antilles, and the first for any team from the Caribbean.\nIn the consolation game, Lamar National Little League of Richmond, Texas, beat Linda Vista Little League of Guadalupe, Mexico, 5-0. Randal Grichuk's second hit in that game for Texas tied the record for hits in a series with 12.\nCuracao (6-0) never trailed, going up 1-0 in the bottom of the first on Jonathan Schoop's RBI single. Facing a 1-1 count, Profar homered to left field -- his first home run of the series -- to make it 3-0.\nLacking a blistering fastball, Pineda (2-0) mixed up his fastball, a breaking ball and the occasional curveball to keep California (5-1) off balance. Pineda struck out seven straight from the first inning through the third.\nIt was almost a complete collapse for a California team that many had expected to dominate. Conejo Valley committed just two errors in five games, but had three errors by the end of the third inning of the title game. Saturday night, California had shut out a Texas team that averaged more than 10 runs a game.\nCuracao broke the game open in the third on a strange RBI double by Quincey van Blarcum. Cody Thomson slid to make the play in right field, but the ball bounced in front of him and over his body. Charlton Martis scored easily, while Willie Rifaela and van Blarcum continued around the bases.\nThe runners appeared to be jammed when Rifaela held up at third and van Blarcum was caught halfway between second and third. But when Rifaela went home, the throw to the plate was off the mark, allowing Rifaela to score, making it 5-0.\nCuracao almost had another run when Schoop hit a long fly ball to right field, but Thomson stretched over the wall to make the catch.\nSean McIntyre doubled in the top of the sixth, setting up Adam Justiniano's two-run homer that brought California within 5-2. John Lister reached base on an outfield error, and Thomson singled on a short fly to right field, advancing Lister to third. But Garia made the play on Brady's grounder to secure the win for Curacao.\nJordan Brower (1-1) took the loss.