Texas West punched their ticket to the Little League World Series with a solid win over Louisiana, finishing the Southwest Region tournament with a 6-2 victory. Early in the game, there was some chatter about the strike zone, with the ump calling some fastballs off the plate as strikes. It looked wild, but both teams got the same calls, including some pitches clearly outside the zone. The batters showed their disbelief, but the consistency made it manageable.
A standout moment came in the third when the Texas West third baseman, number 11, made a slick play to end the inning. He fielded a slow roller on the move, stayed low on the hop, and delivered a clean throw to first. No celebration, just back to position like it was routine. Kid had the look and confidence. Later, in the sixth and final inning, Louisiana had two runners on but couldn’t close the gap. After a quick mound meeting and some encouragement, the Texas West pitcher locked in and got the final out on a grounder right back to number 11, who handled it cleanly again.
Celebration followed immediately. The pitcher got knocked over twice in the dog pile, stayed down laughing under the pile. The coach jumped over the crowd, and number 7 brought out the Gatorade bucket solo. They poured it on themselves in celebration. Number 11 peeked into the huddle to get splashed too. A great finish to a strong tournament run, and now the team is heading to Williamsport.