Curaçao Conquers Williamsport: 11-2 Rout of Nevada Captures 2026 Little League World Series Crown

Pariba Little League delivers Curaçao its second world championship as a powerful international run ends with one final offensive explosion.

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Twenty-two years after Curaçao first reached the top of the Little League baseball world, the island is celebrating another championship.

Pariba Little League of Willemstad completed a dominant run through Williamsport on Sunday, defeating U.S. champion Paseo Verde Little League of Henderson, Nevada, 11-2 in the 2026 Little League World Series Championship Game at Howard J. Lamade Stadium. The victory gives Curaçao its second Little League Baseball World Series title and its first since Pabao Little League captured the championship in 2004.

For a championship matchup between two teams that had overwhelmed nearly everything in their paths, the final remained competitive through the early innings. Nevada, which had powered its way into the title game with a 12-2 victory over Hamilton, Ohio, in Saturday's U.S. championship, stayed within striking distance and trailed only 4-2 entering the fifth inning. Then Curaçao delivered the sequence that effectively decided the tournament.

With the bases loaded and Nevada desperately trying to escape the inning, Shardijon De Lanoi was hit by a pitch to force home another run. Moments later, Juriënsly De Windt ripped a bases-clearing double, bringing home three runs and blowing the game open at 8-2. What had been a two-run championship game suddenly belonged firmly to Curaçao.

The pressure never stopped.

Curaçao added three more runs in the sixth, using singles, a walk, aggressive baserunning, a wild pitch and a perfectly executed bunt to stretch the lead to 11-2. Nevada managed to load the bases in the bottom of the sixth and attempted to create one final Williamsport rally, but Steven Felix entered from the bullpen and slammed the door. Felix struck out Brooks McFarland before retiring Jace Ward on a fly ball to center field, triggering a championship celebration for the players from Willemstad.

It was a fitting ending for a Curaçao team that was almost untouchable throughout the tournament.

Curaçao opened its Williamsport run by shutting out Japan 6-0, followed that with a 1-0 victory over Asia-Pacific, then erupted for 10 runs in one inning during a 12-3 victory over Nicaragua. A rematch against Japan in Saturday's International Championship produced another shutout, 4-0, behind Jaymiëll Martina's 12-strikeout performance. Then came Sunday's 11-run championship performance. Across five games in Williamsport, Curaçao outscored its opponents 34-5.

De Windt was at the center of the championship performance. In addition to his three-run double, he worked three innings on the mound while allowing two runs, only one earned. Giendry Ryan followed with 2⅓ scoreless innings and four strikeouts, while Curaçao's lineup collected 12 hits—its largest offensive output of the tournament.

The championship also carries additional significance for Curaçao. Little League expanded the 2026 field to include a dedicated Curaçao Region, making Pariba the first team from the island to qualify directly through the new regional structure. Four months after earning that historic berth, the club left Williamsport as world champion.

For Nevada, the final score should not overshadow another remarkable summer of baseball.

Paseo Verde became the second consecutive team from the Las Vegas area to reach the Little League World Series championship game. Henderson rolled through the U.S. side of the bracket, including a 14-6 victory over Iowa and the decisive 12-2 U.S. championship victory over Ohio. Nevada's run also included one of the tournament's most memorable stories in Carsynn Meyer, who made history during the U.S. championship as the first girl to play in the game and record a hit and RBI.

Nevada arrived Sunday looking to bring the state its first Little League World Series championship. Instead, it ran into a Curaçao club that appeared to get stronger as the tournament progressed.

And that is what makes this championship particularly impressive.

Little League baseball can be unpredictable. Pitch counts change matchups. One defensive mistake can transform an inning. One hot pitcher can carry a team through Williamsport. Curaçao never seemed dependent on only one of those things. The champions could pitch. They could defend. They could manufacture a run in a 1-0 game. They could overpower an opponent with a 10-run inning. And when the biggest game arrived, they produced 11 runs against the best team the United States bracket had to offer.

The championship adds another chapter to a remarkable Little League tradition on an island with a population only a fraction of many of the countries it competes against. Curaçao had previously produced the 2004 world champions and runner-up teams in 2005, 2019 and 2022. Now the 2026 group has its own place in that history.

For the players from Henderson, there will eventually be perspective on just how extraordinary their accomplishment was. They leave Williamsport as United States champions and one of the final two Little League teams standing in the world.

But Sunday belonged to Curaçao.

When the final out settled into a glove in center field, the scoreboard told the story: Curaçao 11, Nevada 2.

Twenty-two years after Curaçao first celebrated on the field at Lamade Stadium, a new generation did it again.

Pariba Little League is the 2026 Little League World Series champion — and Curaçao is once again on top of the baseball world.