NEW ORLEANS — The Eastbank All-Stars baseball team earned the state's first Little League World Series title Sunday with a 8-0 win over international opponent Curaçao.
The River Ridge team — who fought their way back after losing their first game in the World Series with five consecutive wins to get to into the title game — took an early lead with a run in the first inning and never looked back.
They scored again in the third inning and then opened the flood gates in the fifth with four runs knocked in. They scored two more in the sixth inning to give them the 8-0 advantage at the Howard J. Lamade Stadium and Volunteer Stadium in South Williamsport, Pa.
Pitcher Egan Prather maintained the shut out and racked up six strikeouts in the 6-inning battle.
Pitcher and utility player Marshall Louque, who drove in a whopping four runs with two doubles and a triple in the Jefferson Parish team's 9-5 win against Hawaii on Saturday, had another three RBIs off three hits against Curaçao.
Louque was a crucial piece in the Louisiana team's first world title. As the Little League highlighted before the game, Marshall's younger brother, Maddox, has been battling kidney cancer and also has dreams of becoming a professional baseball player.
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Right fielder Reece Roussel, who set the Little League World Series record on Saturday with his 15th hit, extended the new league record with two hits (including an RBI double). He had 17 hits in seven games with a grand slam and batted .739 in the tournament.
Curaçao, the Caribbean representative in the tournament, was unbeaten going into the title game.
The Eastbank All-Stars lost their first game to Hawaii and were put into the loser's bracket, where they won the next six games in eight days to become the world champions. According to the Associated Press, they are the first team to win the LLWS after losing its first game since the tournament expanded in 2001.
The Eastbank team's success captured the attention of southeast Louisiana. At Walk On's in Metairie, dozens of fans gathered to cheer on and celebrate the local team.
The Eastbank All-Star softball team also turned heads in the Softball Little League World Series. They were undefeated in the state, then the region, and made it all the way to the finals of the LLWS in Portland, where they fell to the Southeast Region team.
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WWL-TV will have more on the East Bank All-Stars' historic victory tonight on the Eyewitness News at 10!