A promising Little League Baseball World Series ended with Texas finishing in fourth place, with Boerne falling to Venezuela 4-3 in the third-place game Sunday.
After losing to Florida Saturday, Texas found itself against one of the deepest teams in the tournament. Despite a hot start that saw Texas jump out to a 3-0 lead, Venezuela kept traffic on the base-paths all morning, ultimately plating four. The first of those runs came off the bat of Diego Biarreta, who doubled to left center to push across Venezuela's first run of the game.
Caden Guffey went 3 2/3 for Texas, and he successfully battled his way out of multiple jams. However, despite several threats from the Texas bats, Boerne wasn't able to score the all-important fourth run of the game.
WATCH THE LLWS FOR FREE ON FUBO
STATESMAN COLUMNIST: Retired Texas football legend Colt McCoy did it the right way | Golden
Its best chance came out of the final frame, with the bases loaded and two out. A lineout to Simon Vacheria ultimately ended the game, despite a valiant effort by Texas throughout the game.
Scroll down for a recap of Boerne Little League vs. Cardenales Little League:
Texas vs. Venezuela in 2024 LLWS: Score updates, highlights Sunday
Final score: Venezuela 4, Texas 3
6th inning: Venezuela 4, Texas 3
11:01 a.m.: Hurst lines out to second, and Venezuela gets out of it! Venezuela takes third place in the LLWS.
10:59 a.m.: Now Hurst walks! Bases loaded, two out, one-run game for Gray Collins. This is the stuff backyard dreams are made of.
10:56 a.m.: Two on, two out here for Julian Hurst as he hopes to keep Texas alive in this one.
10:53 a.m.: Texas has a runner on with one out here in the sixth. Looking to at least tie this ballgame in what has been a tumultuous day.
5th inning: Venezuela 4, Texas 3
10:46 a.m.: It worked! Texas turns a double play to get out of the inning unscathed, and both teams continue to grind this game out.
10:44 a.m.: With runners at the corners and no one out, Justin Newsome makes a mound visit.
10:37 a.m.: Venezuela once again gets out of the inning, and will get a chance to hit.
10:36 a.m.: Texas is threatening here in the top of the fifth. Runners at second and third with two outs as it tries to push the tying run in.
4th inning: Venezuela 4, Texas 4th inning: Venezuela 4, Texas 3
10:25 a.m.: Replay overturns the call, and the score remains 4-3.
10:23 a.m.: A ground ball hits off the bag for Venezuela and a run apparently scores, but review may well overturn this.
10:19 a.m.: A walk is going to end Guffey's day at 80-plus pitches. He worked in and out of a lot of traffic but ultimately goes 3 2/3.
10:15 a.m.: Venezuela has a runner on first with one out after a ground ball up the middle. There has been a baserunner every inning.
10:08 a.m.: That's now 11 straight Texas batters retired, as a great play at second gets Venezuela out of the inning. Huge turnaround after a tough first inning.
3rd inning: Venezuela 4, Texas 3
10:02 a.m.: Venezuela scores another run, but Guffey gets the next batter swinging. It's been a grind, but the game is still in reach. Texas bats have to wake up.
9:58 a.m.: The bases load up with one out after a Bermuda Triangle base hit and a hit batter. Guffey has to work himself out of another jam.
9:55 a.m.: For the third inning in a row, Venezuela got a runner in scoring position with no one out. A sacrifice bunt gets thrown away, and the game is now tied with a runner on second and no one out. Texas' defensive struggles continue.
9:49 a.m.: Texas again goes down 1-2-3. Bats have cooled off after a strong first inning.
2nd inning: Texas 3, Venezuela 2
9:44 a.m.: A ground ball over to first gets Texas out of the inning with a one-run lead, but Venezuela is on the board.
9:43 a.m.: A fielder's choice on a weak ground ball scores one for Venezuela, and there are once again runners at the corners. This time with two out.
9:41 a.m.: Venezuela now has the bases loaded with one out, and they're cooking with gas. Guffey throws a pitch away but the short backstop saves him from a run.
9:38 a.m.: A Venezuela double now drives in a run, and Venezuela is now on the board. Great piece of hitting there going the other way as a left-handed bat.
9:36 a.m.: An error at third has the leadoff runner on for Venezuela, and a passed ball advances him to second with nobody out. And a wild pitch then moves him to third.
9:34 a.m.: A much quieter frame here, as Venezuela holds Texas scoreless in the top half of the second.
1st inning: Texas 3, Venezuela 0
9:26 a.m.: Guffey gets out of the inning with a ground ball up the middle in a 6-3 double play. Texas keeps its 3-0 lead after one.
9:26 a.m.: Guffey gets a sword on a fastball high and tight for a big early strikeout. That brings up the pitcher Mora with runners on first and third and an out.
9:24 a.m.: A great piece of hitting puts runners at the corners. A breaking ball deep in the zone gets taken the other way and Venezuela is threatening itself early here.
9:23 a.m.: The Venezuela bats have also awoken early. Yepez takes Guffey the other way for a leadoff hit and there's a runner on with nobody out.
9:22 a.m.: Caden Guffey is on the mound for Texas.
9:18 a.m.: Venezuela gets out of the inning and will get a chance to hit in the bottom hit of the frame.
9:14 a.m.: A passed ball scores a third run for Texas, which has come out extremely aggressive here early.
9:13 a.m.: A ground ball back to the mound gets airmailed to third going for the lead runner, and two runs score while the batter ends up at third.
9:12 a.m.: Gray scorched one the other way for Texas but it was knocked down at first for a force out. The next batter singles on a pulled line drive, and the Texas bats have started out hot.
9:10 a.m.: Willian's Mora is in the mound for Venezuela, and Julian Hurst leads things off with a first-pitch single the other way. Looked like it got lost in the sun.
Pregame
9:08 a.m.: Venezuela has taken the field, and we're very nearly underway.
9:03 a.m.: Players are lined up along the baseline as they get ready to play their final game of the tournament.
8:43 a.m.: Both teams take a quiet moment ahead of the LLWS third-place game.
Texas vs. Venezuela channel today for LLWS
Who: Boerne Little League (Southwest Region champions) vs. Cardenales Little League (Latin America champions).
What: Little League World Series Game 37.
When: 9 a.m. Sunday.
Where: Williamsport, Pa.
TV: ESPN2.
Streaming: Watch ESPN .
Texas LLWS schedule
Boerne LL will play it's last game Sunday morning. It will try to avoid the same fate as last year's Southwest Region champion out of Needville, Texas. The Houston-area team made it to the U.S. final then lost twice to end its run in Williamsport.
NEWS FOR TEXANS: Was the creation of 15th Court of Appeals constitutional? Texas Supreme Court weighs in.
- Boerne LL (Southwest) vs. Newton LL (Mid-Atlantic): 6 p.m. Thursday. Boerne won, 9-0 .
- Boerne LL (Southwest) vs. Lake Mary LL (Southeast): 6 p.m. Monday. Boerne won, 4-1 .
- Boerne LL (Southwest) vs. Paseo Verde LL (Mountain): 2 p.m. Wednesday. Boerne won 5-2.
- Boerne LL (Southwest) vs. Lake Mary LL (Southeast): 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Boerne lost 10-7
- Boerne LL (Southwest) vs. or Cardenales LL (Latin America): Sunday.
Boerne Little League players
Kaleb Christ
- Jersey number: 4
- Position(s): P/C/OF
- Bats/throws: right/right
Jett Matthews
Doc Mogford
MORE SPORTS: Meet each football team on our 2024 Central Texas top 10 preseason countdown
Gray Collins
Dylan Burke
Aiden Muñoz
Gage Steubing
Kole Newson
'GOD IS SO GOOD': Texas family tells story of Boerne Little Leaguer surviving open-heart surgery at 8 years old
Julian Hurst
Ben Burkhart
Cooper Hastings
Caden Guffey
MORE AUSTIN-AREA NEWS: Gamblers bull-riding team defeated in close match; rider lands on head in scary fall
Who is the Texas coach in 2024 LLWS?
The coaches are Jonathan Collins and Bert Muñoz. Justin Newson is the manager.
Where is Boerne Little League?
Boerne, a city in Texas Hill Country, is about 30 miles northwest of San Antonio and 90 minutes southwest of Austin. The Kendall County city has a population of about 20,000.
Has Texas ever won the Little League World Series?
Texas has only made the finals of the LLWS once since 2001, with Lufkin LL finishing as the tournament runner-up in 2017. The last time Texas won the title was in 1966 with Westbury LL, a team based out of Houston. Last year, the Needville, Texas team lost in the U.S. finals.
Updated LLWS bracket
The LLBWS has two brackets , one for the 10 United States regional champions , and one for the 10 International Regional champions .
All game listed in CT
Sunday, August 25
Little League World Series Third Place
Game 37: Texas vs. Venezuela, 9 a.m. ESPN2
Little League World Series Championship
Game 38: Florida vs. Chinese Taipei, 2 p.m. ABC
Follow the American-Statesman on Facebook and X for more. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Get access to all of our best content with this tremendous offer .
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas vs. Venezuela in Little League World Series final score: Southwest falls to Latin America in 3rd-place game
Local Texas State
Most Popular
Comments / 0