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©Associated Press
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 19, 2001
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- A shy 12-year-old as soft-spoken in his native Spanish as he is in English came close to strikeout perfection on Saturday.
Danny Almonte threw the series' first perfect game in 44 years and struck out all but two of 18 batters as the Bronx, N.Y., defeated Apopka 5-0.
Almonte, a left-hander with a 70-mph slider, struck out the first 15 batters and allowed only a handful of foul balls.
Heading into the sixth inning, he was three outs from becoming the first LLWS pitcher to strike out every batter. But Apopka's Ryan Markell and Andrew Cobb bunted in front of the plate and were thrown out at first.
Almonte struck out Jeff Lovejoy swinging to end the game.
He seemed unfazed, answering only "bien" -- good, in Spanish -- when asked how he felt about the perfect game.
The last perfect game in the series was by Angel Macias of Monterrey, Mexico, in the 1957 championship game against La Mesa Northern (Calif.)
The only other pitcher who did not allow a batter to reach base was Fred Shapiro of Delaware Township (N.J.) in 1956.
"We don't care about no-hitters or perfect games. We just care about getting wins," Bronx manager Alberto Gonzalez said.
That's why Gonzalez didn't take Almonte out after the first inning, when the Bronx got a 5-0 lead. The first five Bronx batters crossed the plate in the opening game for both teams.
Apopka pitcher Stuart Tapley walked the first three batters and hit Hector Rodriguez to drive in the first run. With the bases still loaded, Carlos Garcia sent a Tapley pitch over the leftfield wall for a grand slam to make it 5-0.