The final weekend of the Little League World Series takes place in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. After two important semifinals, the final of the World Series is now set: Chinese Taipei will face Florida to determine who takes home the Little League title.

Chinese Taipei capped a brilliant run in the international tournament with a win against Venezuela, while Florida made a comeback to win the US championship with a thrilling 10-7 victory over Texas.

Chinese Taipei 4, Venezuela 1

In the first encounter of the day, Chinese Taipei defeated Venezuela comfortably and advanced to the final on Sunday.

The Asia-Pacific winners held firm in defense and capitalized on Venezuela’s mistakes to secure the win and a ticket to the LLWS final.

Pitcher Lai Cheng-Xi played an incredible game for Chinese Taipei, striking out 12 players in 5 1/3 innings. Lai’s dominance made it difficult for Venezuela to get on base in the first five innings, and he held the Latin America region champions scoreless until the final inning.

Luis Yepez, who has been outstanding throughout the tournament, started on the mound for Venezuela but struggled early on, allowing walks in the first inning. A wild pitch from Yepez gave Chinese Taipei a chance to strike first, and Chiu Wei-Che was able to score easily from third base.

Although Yepez came back into his stride and had three strikeouts in the second inning, he was replaced by José Pérez in the third inning with the bases loaded. A walk and a wild pitch from Pérez gave Chinese Taipei two more runs in the third inning and a 3-0 lead.

Chinese Taipei scored again in the fifth inning after Samuel Carrasquel and Yepez collided in center field while attempting to catch a pop fly, preventing Carrasquel from catching the ball and ending the inning.

Venezuela struck back in the sixth inning, putting two runners on base and threatening a comeback. Lai, who had thrown more than 85 pitches, was replaced by Chiu. Venezuela scored on a sacrifice before Chinese Taipei made the third and final out to win the game 4-1.

With the win, the team from Taoyuan City, Taiwan, will try to win the World Series title on Sunday. If they win, they will become the first international team to win the world title since Japan did so in 2017.

Florida 10, Texas 7

The second meeting of the day was a thriller, as Florida pulled off a 10-7 comeback win over Texas. The team from Lake Mary, Florida (representing the Southeast region) and the team from Boerne, Texas (representing the Southwest) competed in the U.S. Championship, with Florida emerging victorious.

Florida struggled to get anything going on offense early on, as Texas pitcher Julian Hurst held Florida hitless for three innings. Although Florida got through the first inning scoreless for either team, Texas was able to get some baserunners on the field and score twice to take an early lead. Then, in the third inning, Doc Mogford hit a two-run double with two outs to give Texas a 4-0 lead.

Florida came alive in the fourth inning, getting its first hits and scoring the team’s first run, making the score 4-1. However, Texas was able to hold on and end the inning with Florida’s runners still on base. Florida then finished the fourth inning with three runs.

DeMarcos Mieses opened a strong fifth inning for Florida with a stand-up double, starting the comeback and ultimately making it 4-2. A pitcher change did not slow Florida down: Teraj Alexander hit a big RBI double and brought Florida within one run.

Then Florida’s Christopher Chikodroff hit a big single to tie the game, and Alexander stole home with Newson’s back turned to give Florida a 5-4 lead before Texas was able to end the inning, suddenly trailing.

But that didn’t last long: Texas loaded all bases in the fifth inning and scored another run to tie the score at 5-5 with two outs before a wild pitch allowed Texas to score and take a 6-5 lead. Texas then scored another run to take a two-run lead before Florida ended the inning.

The Southwest champions had a chance to tie the game early in the sixth inning, but Florida stood firm, quickly loading the bases and setting up an RBI single by Jacob Bibaud. Liam Morrisey hit his second sacrifice RBI of the game to tie the score at 7-7, and a two-run RBI by Luis Calo and another steal gave Florida a 10-7 lead before the inning ended.

Texas had one more chance, but Florida managed the strikeout and the double play to complete the comeback and take the win.

The team from Lake Mary, the new US champions, will now face Chinese Taipei in the final.