Guadalupe Team Has Not Given Up a Run in Series

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A coach with Mexico’s Little League international champions said he wanted to play South Mission Viejo in the final because he thought its players needed work on their hitting.

That was before the Mission Viejo team got 15 hits and three home runs in a 12-1 victory over Bradenton, Fla., in Thursday’s U.S. championship.

Mission Viejo will play Guadalupe, Mexico, today for the championship of the Little League World Series.

Guadalupe has not given up a run in four series games and will start right-hander Gabriel Alvarez, a 12-0 winner over Yokohama, Japan, Tuesday. Its center fielder and leadoff hitter, Pablo Torres, is batting .583 with two home runs and three doubles.

“They’re fundamentally sound. They have not given up any runs, and you don’t do that by accident,” Mission Viejo Manager Jim Gattis said.

Guadalupe’s players have drawn inspiration from and visited monuments to one of the most famous teams in Little League history--the team from Monterrey, just across the river from Guadalupe, that won the series in 1957 and 1958, the last Mexican championship. Angel Macias pitched a perfect game in the 1958 final.

Mission Viejo’s coaches stress the thinking part of the game. Each player got a copy of John Wooden’s “They Call Me Coach” before the season.

Mission Viejo will start right-hander Gavin Fabian for the third time in five days. He beat Bradenton, 10-6, and Pottsville, Pa., 3-0, in qualifying games.