Going into the World Series Championship game, the book on Curacao was simple: do not let 5-foot-11, 168-pound behemoth Carlos "Big Papi" Pineda beat you.
The Curacao slugger swings a bat like John Henry swings a hammer. Power is an understatement when you are talking about Pineda at the plate.
Coming into Sunday's championship game, he was hitting a Little League World Series-leading .700 with three home runs and six RBI. What the Conejo Valley Little League from Thousand Oaks, Calif., did not count on was the surprising offensive production that comes from the rest of the Curacao lineup.
Pineda was a factor, though not at the plate, and the Pabao Little League from Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles captured the 2004 Little League World Series Championship Sunday evening at Howard J. Lamade Stadium by defeating Thousand Oaks 5-2, to win a Little League Baseball World Series title.
The Pabao Little League began the scoring early.
After reaching on a walk, Gerson Adamus advanced to second on a passed ball and then scored on a Jonathan Schoop single to left. Pineda was next to trot to the plate in the first inning. Thousand Oaks starter Jordan Brower didn't let Pineda get even a glimpse at a fastball. The dangerous slugger whiffed at the first two curveballs he saw, then fouled one off before succumbing to the fourth straight curve from Brower.
With Pineda heading back to the dugout, Brower appeared to have a sigh of relief before attempting to get Jurickson Profar out to end the inning. Profar parked a 1-1 offering in the left-field bullpen, giving his squad the early 3-0 lead.
Pineda, who had walked one and hit one batter in the top of the first inning, settled quickly into a groove.
The hard-throwing right-hander set Thousand Oaks down in order in the second, and did the same in the third, fanning the next three Conejo Valley All-Stars he faced. By the middle of the third inning, eight of the nine outs that Curacao had recorded were on Pineda strikeouts.
Curacao nearly extended its lead in its next at bat. Sorick Liberia got the inning started, drawing a lead off walk. Rigynoel Rondei then reached while attempting to lay down a sacrifice bunt as Thousand Oaks first baseman Danny Leon let the dribbling ball by him. A fly ball, a fielder's choice and a single later, the bases were full with none other than Pineda strolling to the plate. Pineda wasted no time, slapping the first pitch he saw to third baseman Hayden Cronenbold, who fielded the ball on a short-hop and tagged third to escape the inning.
Thousand Oaks would have no such luck in Curacao's next ups. With two runners on, Quincey van Blarcum smoked a single to right which skipped by right fielder Thompson. The base hit scored both runners and van Blarcum advanced to third on the throw home.
Van Blarcum was the final batter that Brower faced. With the deficit at 5-0 Ginther brought in Sean McIntyre to extinguish the fire. McIntyre did his job, getting Rondei to ground out to first and then striking out Ryandel Walter for the final out.
McIntyre not only assumed pitching duties in the bottom of the third, but he also attempted to jump start the hitless California offense in the top of the fourth.
The lefty led off the fourth by breaking up Pineda's no-no bid with a single up the middle.
Curacao narrowly missed adding to their lead in the fourth. With one out in the inning, Schoop tattooed a McIntyre pitch high and deep to the opposite field. Thompson, who had obviously shaken off his third inning blunder, back pedaled and snared the ball at the fence, robbing Schoop of a round tripper.
McIntyre fed off of Thompson's electrifying catch and got the next batter, Pineda, to futilely swing at strike three to end the fourth.
Though the California pitching staff kept Pindea under control at the plate, the large Curacao ace dominated the game on the hill, striking out 11 over five innings. Inning six was a different story.
McIntyre recorded his second hit of the game, driving a sharply hit line drive double past centerfielder Curtney Doran with one out in the inning. Reserve Adam Justiniano followed McIntyre with a no-doubter to center.
The Justiniano home run got out of the park in a hurry, cutting the Curacao lead to 5-2.
Richmond, Texas, who lost to California in Saturday's U.S. Championship game, defeated Mexico 5-0 in the consolation game, also played Sunday.
The Times-Herald Professor Pigskin Football Contest begin Tuesday, Aug. 31.
Each week, readers have the chance to select the winning football teams from a list of carefully selected high school, college and NFL games.
At stake each week is a $50 cash prize, which will be awarded to the person who has the most correct winning selections.
In the event of a tie between two or more entrants, the specifically designated "tie-breaker" game will come into play to help determine a clear winner.
The "tie-breaker" game this year will alternate weekly between the Forrest City and Arkansas Razorback game.
Readers must correctly guess the winner of the tie-breaker game and also guess the score of the tie-breaker game.
Each week's list of games will appear in the Tuesday edition of the Times-Herald along with the entry form and the name of the previous week's winner.
All entries must be received and postmarked by noon on the Friday following Tuesday's published list.
Entries may be dropped off at the Times-Herald main office, located at 222 North Izard, in the outside mailbox or in the "Professor Pigskin" box, located in the Times-Herald lobby from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Champions: The team of Randy Wolf (back) Chandler Sorrels (left) and Josh Brock won the "3-on-3" basketball tournament played Saturday at Oak Hill Church of God. The team was undefeated through the double-elimination tournament.