1957 Little League World Series
The Little League World Series took place during August 21 through 23 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Industrial Little League of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, defeated Northern La Mesa Little League of La Mesa, California, in the championship game of the 11th Little League World Series. Ángel Macías threw the first and, to date, only perfect game in an LLWS championship. This was the first LLWS to invite teams from qualifying regions: North, South, East, and West. Monterrey, representing the South region, became the first team from outside the United States or Canada to participate in a LLWS, and the first non-U.S. team to win a championship. Industrial Little League of Monterrey In 1956, Monterrey was granted a Little League license. They assembled a four-team league consisting of teams from different factories, the Botelleros, Mineros, Tubitos, and Incas. Many of the kids came from low-income families and even worked in the factories themselves. Before the teams could play, they had to clear the field of rocks and broken glass. They even had to use homemade gloves and equipment. The league had a try out for a Little League team that would represent the city. The coach, Cesar Faz, recruited the kids. He became known as a great baseball coach and was considered one of the best at motivating a youth baseball team. After two exhibition games in Mexico the teams historic run to Williamsport began. However, they did not even know Williamsport existed. In July 1957, they took a bus to Reynosa, Mexico. From there, they crossed the border on foot. They walked on a bridge over the Rio Grande and continued to their hotel in McAllen. In McAllen, they played a U.S. subregional tournament. The team won their first game against a team from Mexico City, 9 to 2. They went on to defeat the McAllen All Stars, the Mission All Stars, the Weslaco All Stars, and the Western Brownsville All Stars to advance to a regional tournament in Corpus Christi. While there, they beat another team from Mexico City and then beat the Houston All Stars. The team then travelled to Fort Worth to play in the Texas State Tournament. Up until that point they had beat every team by five or more runs. However, in the state semifinals they needed extra innings to beat another Houston All Star team, 5 to 4. After they survived that game, they destroyed the Waco All Stars, 11 to 2 to advance to the South Regional. After the state tournament, the team got on a plane and flew to Louisville, Kentucky for the Southern Regionals. The winner of the Southern Regional was going to represent the south in the Little League World Series in Williamsport. Their first game was against Biloxi, Mississippi. They won that game 13 to 0. The next game, for the Southern Regional Championship, was against Owensboro, Kentucky. They won that game 3 to 0. The Monterrey Little League was headed to the Little League World Series. The team loaded