1992 Little League World Series

The 1992 Little League World Series was the 46th Little League World Series. Teams involved were Valleyfield, QC, Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional, Ramstein Air Base (Germany), Zamboanga, Philippines, Long Beach, CA, South Holland, IL, Lake Charles, LA and Hamilton Square, NJ.

The Dominican team set all kinds of records in the international bracket. They pounded Canada 29-0 and Germany 24-0. Against Canada, they set records for runs (the old mark was 27 by a Taiwan team in 1973), hits (34, shattering a 1986 record of 21 from a Taiwanese entry), homers (8), RBI (26) and total bases (63; the old mark, set in 1980, was by a team from Taiwan). They set a record with 13 hits in an inning, including 8 in a row, and 5 home runs in an inning. Canada meanwhile, was held to two hits. Bladimil Fortunato set records for runs (6), hits (6) and total bases (14) in a game. Jose Chalas had 5 runs to tie the old record while Marcos Aneudy Brand tied the old mark of 5 hits and reached base in 10 consecutive at-bats to tie a record. Sotero Nolasco Martinez also tied the record of reaching base in ten straight at-bats. The rout of Germany, while less spectacular, did produce 19 hits, and saw a no-hitter by Alexis Chalas. The Dominicans set LLWS tournament records for runs (62), average (.492; the old record was by Tampa in 1980) and OPS (1.44) while their .546 OBP was second to Taiwan's 1986 performance. For all their greatness, though, they fell to the Philippines in the international finale, 5-1, as the bats went cold.

In the finale, Zamboanga beat Long Beach, 15-4, as Ian Tolentino got the win and hit a two-run homer with no out in the top of the first to get things rolling. 1B Ryan Stuart hit a grand slam for all the US runs while Ryan Beaver set a record with four hit batsmen. Leadoff hitter and SS Sean Burroughs went 1 for 4 with a run and would go on to the best pro career; his father Jeff Burroughs coached for the team.

Zamboanga would be stripped of its title after The Philippines Inquirer reported that only 6 of their 14 players lived in the district, the others being added before the Far East finale with Taiwan, including Tolentino and the other top three batters for the Philippines. The title was given instead to the Long Beach team, which made history when they won the 1993 Little League World Series outright to become the first US team with back-to-back titles. Some in the Philippines ramped up the hyperbole - the Daily Malaya wrote "It's like the Vietnam War all over again...The Americans couldn't prevail...so they declared themselves press release winners."

Sources

• 2012 Little League World Series Media Guide
• NY Times article
• 1993 Baseball Almanac