SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT — Hawaii’s offensive punch followed Japan’s stirring win in extra innings to create some high drama at the Little League World Series.
Now, the two teams will meet Sunday to decide who flies home with a World Series title.
Ryo Motegi’s RBI grounder through the infield with two outs gave Tokyo, Japan, a 3-2 win over Kaoshiung, Taiwan, to claim the international title Saturday, before Noah Shackles’ two-run homer to center capped a four-run first for the boys from Waipahu, Hawaii, in a 10-0 win over Pearland, Texas, in the U.S. championship.
Shackles finished 2 for 2 with three runs, and lefty Ezra Heleski allowed just two hits for the local Waipio Little League from Waipahu trying to win its second tournament crown in three years. The game ended with one out in the fifth because of Little League’s 10-run rule.
“USA! USA!,” chanted the Hawaii fans afterward. Many held mini-state flags and tea leaves they have been waving in the stands all week for good luck.
After avoiding elimination four straight days, Hawaii has one more big game to go. Manager Brian Yoshii isn’t making any predictions.
“But I tell you these kids will leave everything on the field and play their hearts out to make their community proud, and the state proud and the West proud,” he said before Shackles whispered his manager to say something else.
“And the United States,” Yoshii said with a smile before replying to his 13-year-old third baseman. “Thank you for covering for me.”
It was the 5-foot-10 Shackles and the 5-foot-1 Heleski — one of the shortest players on Hawaii — who played key roles in shutting down a powerful Pearland squad that hit a tournament-leading eight homers entering Saturday.
Heleski kept them off-balance in striking out six and chipping in with two RBIs.
“I couldn’t begin to tell you how proud of these kids I am.
It has nothing to do with what happened results-wise,” Texas manager Mike Orlando said.
“We tried very hard to get the kids fired up after we got behind.
I tried to tell them there were 1,000 Little League teams that (would) trade places with you in a heartbeat.”
Heleski said he felt good in bullpen, then just started throwing strikes in a game he called the best he had ever pitched.
“I agree, biggest stage also,” Yoshii said. “I’m very proud of him.”
The blowout victory on a picture- perfect summer afternoon was in sharp contrast to Japan’s tight win.
“I wanted to connect, and I was aiming for center,” the 13- year-old Motegi said about his clutch hit through interpreter Brian Thompson.
And that’s about where the ball ended up after just slipping past shortstop Chen-Wei Chen into left center, allowing pinchrunner Ryusuke Ikeda to score the winning run.
Japan exchanged high-fives at the plate, shook hands with the saddened Taiwan players, then posed with the international championship banner at the mound.
“Very happy,” Motegi simply said about the postgame celebration.
Taiwan came within two outs of doing the celebrating with reliever Shao-Fei Huang cruising on the mound into the sixth.
Leadoff hitter Koutaro Kamikura’s one-hopper handcuffed the third baseman and slipped into left before Huang got a strikeout. Kamikura advanced to second on a throwing error off a pickoff attempt before Ryota Norimatsu’s solid single up the middle tied the score at 2-2.
“The staff, especially the kids, they believed in themselves, so they didn’t feel the pressure too much,” manager Shingo Ariyasu said.
Japan beat one of the tournament’s most fearsome teams at the plate, after Taiwan had outscored opponents 46-1 over its first three games. Taiwan took a 2-1 lead in the second after Shang-Yu Wu hit a fluke double that deflected off of Japan starter Natsuki Mizumachi into left, then later scored on a wild pitch.
Instead, it will be a Japan team playing for the title for the first time since 2007 to try to snap the United States’ five-year run as Little League champs.
“It was a 50-50 game,” Taiwan manager Tung-Yu Ho said through interpreter Ming- Huang Yeh. “Good defense and making contact was going to win this game and Japan did that a little better than us.”
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Related Photos
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Hawaii's Ezra Heleski scores the winning run on a fifth-inning passed ball as Texas pitcher Jaron Roblyer, right, covers home plate on the play. Celebrating in the rear is Kahoea Akau. Hawaii won 10-0. The Associated Press
Discussion
Pacific power
Hawaii, Japan win, will meet in final
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