Willemstad

“I just knew it was gone even before the ball hit the bat,” Lappe said shortly after knocking the ball clear across the left field wall to win the Little League World Series on Sunday against Pabao Little League of Willemstad, Curacao, in Williamsport, Pa.

The team from Willemstad’s Pabao Little League on the Caribbean island of about 150,000 people is aiming for bigger things, and with five players and its whole coaching staff back for a second straight year, it needs just two wins to return to the tournament championship undefeated.

Associated Press writer Derk Drayer in Willemstad, Curacao, contributed to this report.

Panama advanced to the eight-nation regional finals of World Cup qualifying, playing a 0-0 draw at Curaçao on Tuesday night in Willemstad.

Curaçao began its World Cup qualifying campaign under former Netherlands and Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink with a 5-0 victory over St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Thursday at Willemstad on the Caribbean island that is a constituent country of the Netherlands.