2024 LLIWS Preview: Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

I have the privilege of calling a Little League World Series once again this year! This will mark my third consecutive call of the Intermediate 50/70 Baseball World Series, held from July 28-August 4 in Livermore, California. It's for 13-year-olds, played on a field slightly larger than Little League but still smaller than Junior League (50 feet from the pitcher's mound to home plate, 70 feet between the bases). Following this tournament and its qualifiers closely over the last three years, I've come to expect fantastic action and stories, and I'm looking forward to bringing them to you again this year!

The 2024 Intermediate World Series will air on ESPN+, and I will lay out the backstory for one of the 12 competing teams each day from  now until the tournament's start on July 28. I hope you'll read along and remember a nugget here and there when you watch the tournament!

Guaynabo, Puerto Rico

League:
Amelia Guaynabo Baseball
Location:
Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Championships:

Puerto Rico
Record: 5-0
Date Qualified: June 15
Noteworthy:
2nd Puerto Rican league to qualify for Livermore two years in a row.
Coaches: Rafael Cruz, Jason Catala, Jose Berrios

Puerto Rico alternates a direct bid to Livermore with Mexico, and even years mean a more straightforward path for island teams.

This year's representative is Amelia Guaynabo, the same league that finished third in the international bracket last year, beating Australia and Canada but falling to decisive defeats against the dominant teams, Navojoa, Mexico and the eventual champion, West Seoul, Korea.

There are no holdovers from last year's team, however, which had 11 veterans of the 12-year-old Little League World Series. This group, often known as Equipo Huskies Guaynabo, did not have that 12-year-old platform to build on, but it made relatively light work of the Puerto Rico state tournament, held over several consecutive weekends in May and June.

The winners' bracket semifinal against Liga Radamés López, the Puerto Rico champion last year as 12-year-olds, was the tightest and most emotionally charged of the bunch. Speedy leadoff man Austin Escobar came on in relief and escaped a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the 7th to preserve the one-run win. A group that felt it had always come up just short in big games then downed Liga Jaime Collazo of Vega Baja twice to book its spot in Livermore. According to manager Rafael Cruz, that makes 23 straight victories after an opening-game loss in regular-season play.

The confidence built during that streak - and some of the team's superstitions, such as not washing their uniforms when winning (thankfully for all, Little League will provide fresh 'Puerto Rico' threads in Livermore!) - will surely be tested on the international stage. Guaynabo must open on Sunday, the first day of the tournament, which raises the distinct possibility of playing every day of the tournament. That means pitching depth will be essential. A win in the potentially competitive opener against Canada would be followed by a crack at one of the international tournament favorites, Curaçao's Pabao.

Road to Livermore
Puerto Rico Region
May 18	987 Elite Cubs, Carolina	W	11-1
May 19	Castellana Gardens, Carolina	W	12-2
May 25	Radamés López, Guayama	W	9-8
June 8	Jaime Collazo, Vega Baja (winners' final)	W	10-3
June 15	Jaime Collazo, Vega Baja (final)	W	12-8
Intermediate Baseball World Series
July 28	Diamond Baseball, Boisbriand QC CAN	W	12-4
July 29	Pabao, Willemstad CUR	L	4-10
July 30	South-West Germany (elim)	W	7-1
July 31	Hills, Sydney NSW AUS (elim)	W	8-3
Aug 1	West Seoul KOR (elim)	L	1-2