Sports
Nearly a year later, El Segundo's Little League World Series run is still making an impact
After El Segundo gave up a four-run lead on a Curacao grand slam, it was 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was still anyone’s game. Except this game was on the biggest stage in amateur baseball: the Little League Baseball World Series championship.
“No pressure, just get on base and let your teammates do the rest,” then 12-year-old Louis Lappe recalled thinking as he walked to the plate. “It doesn’t matter how you get on. Just get on.”
The first pitch was an outside curveball, the second was right down the middle. Then, the pitcher missed his spot and Lappe took advantage. A loud clunk and the crowd roared as the ball sailed above the field and over the fence for a walk-off home run to seal the championship win.
“We weren’t nervous because we had learned how to face adversity,” El Segundo manager Danny Boehle said of the moment. “These kids don’t have that bone in their body. They were made for that moment. They weren’t nervous at all, they knew we could come back.”
In their first trip to the final, El Segundo Little League All-Stars made history last August by edging Curacao 6-5 in the Little League World Series championship game in Williamsport, Pa. El Segundo had to win five consecutive elimination games to become the first team from California to secure the world title since Huntington Beach Ocean View in 2011.
Nearly a year later, Little League is more popular than ever in El Segundo and the star of the championship team is still getting adjusted to the impact of the team’s unlikely run to a world championship
Lappe’s walk-off homer was a moment every young baseball player dreams of — hitting a game-winning home run — and makes someone a hometown hero.
“They knew they were the best in the world, but I think it will really hit them like it has the adults later in life when they have kids and understand family and understand how big this really is,” Boehle said. “It means so much more to not only the families and El Segundo, or even California. … You hit the whole world.”
Lappe’s parents, Ted Lappe and Kathryn Narahara, had similar feelings while sitting alongside the families of their son’s teammates during the championship game.
“It was the experience itself and the relationships that grew on this journey,” Narahara said. “… The boys got to meet kids from all over the world and that experience will always mean something special to them. I don’t think they will fully comprehend their achievement until they’re much older, but we have a different perspective of enjoying the little things. It was very emotional and joyful.”
The night of their win, the El Segundo players didn’t even try to sleep. There was so much excitement, they stayed up talking in their dorms, recounting the highs and lows of the game until they finally fell asleep in the early hours of the morning.
El Segundo Little League players take part in a victory parade along main street in El Segundo on Aug. 28, 2023.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
They were welcomed home by fans at LAX and during a parade down Main Street in El Segundo.
“Being from California, champions are big here,” Boehle said, “Just look at the Dodgers or Lakers … they call it the city of champions. Being from California and being from this tiny town in Southern California, everyone was behind us.”
Boehle said the most special moment came when the team was recognized in front of 60,000 fans at the USC-Stanford football game at the Coliseum in September. After the second quarter, a video was shown of Lappe’s walk-off home run and the team’s victory celebration, triggering a standing ovation.
“That’s the most emotional I got because you realize you’re touching fans that don’t even realize who you are, but because you’re from L.A. and because you’re a champion and because you represented California, they were all-in,” Boehle said. “That to me was pretty special.”
The win also meant a lot for the city, which has a history of success in baseball from the high school level to producing current MLB players such as the St. Louis Cardinals’ Lars Nootbaar, whom every kid in El Segundo looks up to, according to Ted Lappe. Since El Segundo Little League started in 1954, this was the first team in its district and section to make it to state and win it all.
“That to me was one of the greatest parts of winning this thing was people who had no idea [Brett Field, named for Hall of Famer George Brett] existed in their town, but they knew what we just accomplished meant so much to this town,” Boehle said. “You’ll probably never see it again. It’s usually one special group of kids, special coaches, special families and the town realized that.”
The impact of the championship is reflected in registration for Little League in El Segundo, which has grown significantly since the World Series win. Last year, El Segundo Little League had roughly 420 players with 39 teams, while this year it had 450 players across 42 teams, according to Jamin Griffiths, El Segundo Little League president. Griffiths estimates that this year is the highest numbers the league has ever had, with the last decade usually having between 370 and 400 participants.
Lappe’s celebrity status continued after the team’s homecoming. It’s mostly confined to El Segundo in the form of kids walking up to say hi or following him around at Little League games, but every once in a while he’ll get recognized elsewhere.
“He is going to be an icon the rest of his life in this town, “ Boehle said. “Everyone knows who he is. Everyone is asking about him — high school, colleges … that’s who he is, he’s humble. Whether he is a celebrity or not that’s not going to stop his work ethic or stop him from being who he is. When you are on that stage, there’s nothing bigger on TV in that week of August. Everyone is watching. What he did will go down in history.”
Louis Lappe delivers during a Little League World Series game for El Segundo on Aug. 26.
(Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press)
Despite his fame and historic play, Lappe doesn’t want to just be remembered for that moment. It’s a good memory, but he hopes to have a long baseball career. He is playing for the Braves Baseball Academy this season, but he is mostly just enjoying his summer like any other kid: riding bikes and meeting friends at In-N-Out.
Soon he will take a break as his travel ball season closes.
Lappe’s parents have made sure he stays grounded through all the attention — chores and school work are still part of his routine. He loves baseball, but it’s not his whole life. Soccer and basketball are fun, too. He will go down in El Segundo baseball history, but he’s also still just Lou.
“He has been good about staying true to himself,” Ted Lappe said. “The attention afterwards was fast and furious and fun to experience but nothing’s going to be completely the same. Still, not too much has changed besides the fact that an achievement was accomplished. He’s still the same kid that has loved baseball since he was 5 years old.”
Sports
Auburn fans shower officials with debris after wild buzzer-beater gets overturned
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A chaotic scene unfolded at Auburn University on Tuesday night as a wild buzzer-beater was waved off well after the Tigers had celebrated on their own court.
With 0.6 seconds remaining and Auburn trailing 90-88, KeShawn Murphy, somehow left wide open, caught an inbounds pass and nailed a long 3-pointer for what was thought to be the game-winner.
However, officials went to the scorer’s table to review the play, which was awfully close.
Auburn Tigers players watch the replay of a possible game-winning shot that was called back as Auburn Tigers take on Texas A&M Aggies at Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Jake Crandall/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Ultimately, officials ruled that the shot had not gone off in time, ending the Tigers’ celebration and prompting one from Texas A&M.
The officials quickly made themselves public enemy number one and were showered with debris from fans on their way off the court. At least one referee needed his head to be covered.
One fan sitting courtside even turned his back and threw his drink over his shoulder aimed at an official.
“They didn’t say a word. They just said it was no good and ran off the floor. I probably wouldn’t want to talk to me in that moment, anyway,” Auburn head coach Steven Pearl, who took over for his dad, Bruce this season, said after the game. “So, I get why they’d run away from me. Just from the angles that I saw, it looked like it was off his fingers. But that was just, I don’t have all the same angles they have.”
Texas A&M Aggies players celebrate victory as Auburn Tigers take on Texas A&M Aggies at Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Jake Crandall/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
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It is now six losses in their last 10 games for the Tigers after starting 5-1. They lost in the Final Four last year to Florida, who won the national championship over Houston.
Auburn (9-6, 0-2) led 47-37 at halftime and extended the margin to 61-45 with 12:29 remaining.
KeShawn Murphy of the Auburn Tigers reacts after officials ruled that his last-second shot did not beat the shot clock to win the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Neville Arena on Jan. 6, 2026 in Auburn, Alabama. (Stew Milne/Getty Images)
Texas A&M answered with a steady run fueled by outside shooting, taking its first lead at 8:42 when Pop Isaacs buried a 3-pointer. The Aggies followed with back-to-back triples from Isaacs to open a five-point cushion that they would not relinquish, by the skin of their teeth.
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Sports
Former NFL player Jordan Shipley is in critical condition after accident on his ranch
Two-time All-American wide receiver and prominent Outdoors Channel host Jordan Shipley is in critical condition after an accident on his ranch in Texas, his family said in a statement.
Shipley, 40, was described as stable after remaining hospitalized Tuesday night in Austin. The statement said a machine that he was operating near his hometown of Burnet caught fire. The former Texas great suffered “severe burns on his body.”
Shipley abruptly retired in 2012 after three NFL seasons primarily because of persistent concussion issues and chronic knee problems. He quickly transitioned to television shows that showcased his passion for deer hunting, co-hosting “The Bucks of Tecomate” and “Tecomate Whitetail Nation.”
“It was not hard at all,” Shipley said at the time of retiring at 27. “Only because I never saw myself as a football player first. Don’t get me wrong, I worked my tail off for football and I loved it but never saw that as my whole identity because I had such a big background in outdoors. Really, with this opportunity I had I was actually pretty excited about moving forward.”
Although he enjoyed a strong rookie season with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2010 with 52 receptions for 600 yards and three touchdowns, he is best remembered as a record-setting player at Texas.
Shipley starred as a receiver and a kick returner from 2006 to 2009, setting program single-season records in 2009 with 116 receptions and 1,489 yards. He also remains the career leader for receptions with 248 and ranks second in career receiving yards with 3,191, behind Roy Williams. Shipley also returned four punts or kickoffs for touchdowns.
After being drafted in the third round by the Bengals, he became one of the most popular players with Cincinnati fans, and his No. 11 jersey was worn by thousands. After a debilitating knee injury early in the 2011 season, he was never the same player, and he had short stints with Tampa Bay and Jacksonville before retiring.
According to his family, Jordan was operating a machine at his ranch when it caught fire. He managed to free himself from the machine, but “not before sustaining severe burns on his body in the process.” Jordan was airlifted to the hospital in Austin.
“He was able to get to one of his workers on the ranch, who drove him to a local hospital. He was then care-flighted to Austin, where he remains in critical but stable condition,” the statement said.
Shipley’s younger brother, former Texas wide receiver Jaxon Shipley, 33, asked for prayers in a statement on Instagram: “Please pray for full healing and no infections or other issues on his road to recovery. I don’t want to get into all the details, other than his life was spared today by the grace of God and the sheer will to live. I believe prayer is effective so I’m asking anyone and everyone to lift Jordan up in prayer.”
Sports
Tom Izzo explodes on former Michigan State player in wild scene: ‘What the f— are you doing?’
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Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo has been known to get visibly angry with his players over his years in East Lansing, but what happened Monday night against USC was different.
Izzo let loose his frustration on a former player.
During the Spartans’ blowout over the Trojans, 80-51, Izzo was spotted unloading on former Michigan State center Paul Davis, who played for the team from 2002-06, after he caused a disturbance in the stands.
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Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans reacts to a call during a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena Jan. 2, 2026, in Lincoln, Neb. (Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
Referees pointed out Davis, who was a spectator, from his courtside seat after he was among many in the building who disagreed with a call in the second half. Davis stood up and shouted at referee Jeffrey Anderson.
Anderson responded with a loud whistle, stopping play and pointing at Davis. Then, Anderson went over to Izzo to explain what happened, and the 70-year-old coach went ballistic.
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First, he was motioning toward Davis, and it was clear he asked his former center, “What the f— are you doing?”
Davis was met by someone asking him to leave his seat, and that’s when Izzo went nuts. He shouted “Get out of here!” at Davis, who appeared to gesture toward Izzo, perhaps in apology for disturbing the game.
Izzo was asked about Davis’ ejection after the game.
“What he said, he should never say anywhere in the world,” Izzo responded when asked what happened. “That ticked me off. So, just because it’s 25, 20 years later, I’m going to have to call him tomorrow and tell him what I thought of it. And you know what he’ll say? ‘I screwed up, coach. I’m sorry.’”
Izzo quickly clarified that what Davis said “wasn’t something racial” and “it wasn’t something sexual.”
Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo protests a call that benefited the Iowa Hawkeyes during the first half at Jack Breslin Student Events Center Dec. 2, 2025. (Dale Young/Imagn Images)
“It was just the wrong thing to say, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Davis later met with reporters Tuesday, apologizing for his actions.
“I’m not up here to make any excuses. I’m up here to take accountability, to own it,” Davis said. It was a mistake that will never happen again. It was a mistake that’s not me, but, unfortunately, last night it was.”
Izzo said Davis was one of his “favorite guys” during his time playing for the Spartans. He had a breakout sophomore campaign with 15.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and two assists per game in 30 starts for Izzo during the 2003-04 season.
Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans reacts during a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena Jan. 2, 2026, in Lincoln, Neb. (Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
In his senior year, Davis averaged 17.5 points, a career-high, in 33 games.
He was taken in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers. Davis played just four seasons in the league, his final one with the Washington Wizards.
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