Your lasting memory of him is likely watching from a television angle behind his back and seeing his smooth pitching motion produce a fastball that ESPN registered at 82 mph.
Lin Chin-Tse was the pitching and hitting hero for Chinese Taipei during the 2025 Little League World Series. His country would go 5-0 in the tournament, wiping out a team from Las Vegas in the championship game.
One year later, at 13 and about 5-9 and 160 pounds (and with size 13 shoes), he says he has delivered a pitch as hard as 87.
"He wants to go at least 100," says his interpreter, Kenny Yen.
Lin and Yen were speaking to USA TODAY Sports on a video call last week from the San Francisco Bay Area, where Lin’s middle school team was practicing and playing this month.
"It’s
like spring training for their team because their school’s starting soon," Yen says. "And also tournaments that they arranged. They are playing in the high school tournament but they’re the only middle school. And it’s all wooden bats."
Lin, who lives in New Taipei City, is entering the eighth grade a world away from South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he struck out 20 in 11 innings overall during the team's run that included four shutouts.
It was the first Little League title for the nation also known as Taiwan and over which China claims sovereignty.
"When they returned to the airport, there was a lot of people actually waiting for them," says Yen, interpreting Lin’s response. "So they were almost treated with like a hero's welcome home.
"He feels that it's very, very important that they were able to win the championship for that one."
Lin has followed this year’s Little League World Series, including the scintillating performance of Alabama’s Kinley Rasmus – intently.
"He noticed that this year’s pitcher is very good," Yen says. "They’re pitching very well this year. From the first couple game(s), he noticed that the speed, the velocity this year is very, very high. It's a lot faster. So his advice to the kids is don't swing too hard, don't take a big swing, don't take a big cut because you're never gonna catch up to it. You’re gonna be very slow. You have to make the adjustment."
It’s what Lin has been doing back home in New Taipei City, where he has played on the full-sized field, a big jump from the smaller dimensions of Little League.
The basepaths are 90 feet instead of 60 feet in distance, and the pitcher’s rubber is up from 46 feet to 60 feet, 6 inches from home plate.
"He has to hit the reset button because it’s a different mindset," Yen says. "Now he's going to the next level. He feels that his first step has to be a little bit bigger, so he needs to make a big stride on the first step."
It’s a step all serious baseball players have to make from Little League. While you have more time as hitters to react to the ball from farther away, as a pitcher, suddenly everyone is on your fastball.
The pitching, he says, is much harder than the hitting right now. He faces older middle school kids than him back home. Yen says middle school lasts until ninth grade there: "He’s playing with kids almost 15. So he's one level up."
Playing in a high school tournament in the Bay Area last weekend, he didn’t quite hit 85 mph, Yen says, but he used a splitter, which dives down from the hitting zone. He also has a slider.
"His new weapon is the splitter," Yen says.
Remember Lin Chin-Tse, hero for Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) in last year’s Little League World Series? He’s in eighth grade now and last weekend he competed in a high school tournament in the Bay Area. Here’s video of his new weapon, a splitter, from Kenny Yen, his interpreter. #LLWS pic.twitter.com/GFmoigd1y7
— Stephen Borelli (@StephenBorelli) August 27, 2026
"When I mentioned who he is to the other team … they were like, ‘Wow,’ how fortunate they were able to face him at this tournament."
He’s also playing outfield and hitting and admits, through Yen, "He still a little bit nervous. He's afraid to strike out."
Since Lin is mixing up his pitches and speeds, I asked him if batters are hitting his fastball that was nearly untouchable in Williamsport. "Yes," he said with a smile.
After he led his team to the Little League World Series championship, we caught up with his father and family, seeking to understand why he was so overpowering. His father, Lin Shih-Hua, revealed he put his son through rigorous boxing training.
Lin Shih-Hua once coached the national boxing team for their self-governing island. While his father is advising the team now, Lin says he’s his main physical coach.
"He does the stuff that his middle school coaches ask him to do as well," Yen says. "And then on top of it, he does what his dad tell him to do."
Lin says he’s using the same regimen as a boxer, relying heavily on running and work to strengthen his core.
He’s doing very little weight training. He and his dad have their own special motions that tie boxing to baseball, such as jabbing and swinging.
He doesn’t get in the ring and face other fighters, just trains around it. He doesn’t like boxing.
"It hurts a lot when he get hit," Yen says.
Lin also relies on rest to fuel his arm. He primarily played in the outfield for his middle school team last season, Yen says, and was called upon several times as a pinch-hitter.
He says he was shut down from pitching from the Little League World Series until June. He did some bullpen sessions, but never competed in a game or threw batting practice.
"He continued to build up his strength," Yen says. "He did throw off the mound a little bit, just throwing catch. He (wasn’t) throwing full strength.
"He feels really good."
His goals include reaching 90 mph in the next year and, with his teammates, qualifying for next year’s Junior League World Series in Taylor, Michigan.
"It’s very simple for him," he says through Yen. "He set a goal up (and) he wants to reach that goal. So he trains really hard for it. He (listens) to everybody's advice and then he trains hard and then it happens. He's very happy that he can actually achieve this goal, right? Because not everybody can achieve all their goals all the time. But he's very happy that he's able to achieve it."
He left Williamsport last year wanting to learn English when he returned home, and he says he has.
"He’s better at listening compared to speaking right now," Yen says. "He can understand a little bit of what you’re saying."
This weekend, he thinks somebody from the international side, where he feels teams have a bit more depth, will win it all.
He remembers, though, how close his team was with players from both sides, particularly (Las Vegas) Nevada and Puerto Rico. He hasn’t left those days completely behind.
"He want to thank everybody for remembering him from Williamsport," Yen says, "and he wants to return one day to visit again."
Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He played baseball in high school, rowed in college and spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents to a college and high school baseball player. His Coach Steve column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'He wants to go at least 100': Catching up with 2025 LLWS star pitcher
