Dominant Honolulu wins Hawaii's 4th LLWS title since '05
For the fourth time in 17 years, the state of Hawaii is home to the Little League World Series champion.
Honolulu Little League (Honolulu, Hawaii) took home the crown with a 13-3 win over Pabao Little League (Willemstad, Curaçao) at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pa., on Sunday.
Curaçao kicked off the scoring in the first inning by manufacturing a run after a leadoff double from Davey-Jay Rijke. The next batter, Emery Hansen, moved Rijke to third with a sacrifice bunt. A few pitches later, Rijke came in to score on a wild pitch.
But Hawaii would hit right back. Hawaii’s 1-2 hitters, Kekoa Payanal and Kama Angell, hit back-to-back home runs to kick off the bottom of the first inning. Curaçao quickly pulled their starter, Shemar Jacobus, after giving up the long balls.
After holding Curaçao scoreless in the top of the second inning, Hawaii scored three runs on a pair of singles, a walk, two hit-by-pitches and a sac fly during the bottom of the inning.
The onslaught was just beginning. Already up 5-1 in the bottom of the third, Hawaii scored seven runs to blow the game open. Curaçao pitchers hit five batters in the inning while also giving up two doubles and a walk.
In the fourth inning, down 12-1 and in jeopardy of losing under the 10-run rule, Curaçao staved off defeat thanks to a two-run, two-out single from Jaythan Cordilia to cut the deficit to nine. Hawaii starter Jaron Lancaster threw four solid innings, giving up just three runs on three hits while walking three and striking out 10. Thanks to Lancaster and a powerful offensive performance from Hawaii, the hole was just too big to crawl out of for the Caribbean Region champs.
Hawaii countered in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single from Angell -- his fourth hit and sixth RBI on the day -- to stretch their lead to 10 and end the game, clinching the Little League World Series title. Donning powder blue and bright yellow jerseys, Honolulu Little League streamed out of the dugout for a celebratory dogpile on the pitcher's mound.
The contest capped off a dominant performance from Hawaii during this year’s tournament. The team outscored opponents 60-5 over six games. It was the Aloha State’s fourth Little League World Series championship since 2005. It’s Honolulu Little League’s second Little League World Series championship in four years.