{"id":59618,"date":"2022-08-29T11:06:19","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T11:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/hawaii-wins-little-league-title-beating-curacao-13-3\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T11:06:19","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T11:06:19","slug":"hawaii-wins-little-league-title-beating-curacao-13-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/hawaii-wins-little-league-title-beating-curacao-13-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii wins Little League title, beating Curacao 13-3"},"content":{"rendered":"
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) \u2014 For a week and a half at the Little League World Series, no team came close to Hawaii. The championship Sunday was no different. <\/p>\n
Hawaii got back-to-back homers from Kekoa Payanal and Kama Angell in the first inning, sparking a 13-3 win in just four innings over Curacao. <\/p>\n
The LLWS title is Hawaii’s fourth. It won in 2018 and this same Honolulu team finished third last year, when COVID-19 travel restrictions prevented international teams from participating.<\/p>\n
How good was Hawaii? In six games, all victories, the closest margin was four runs. Hawaii outscored opponents 60-5. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re fortunate that everything clicked at the right moment,\u201d Hawaii Manager Gerald Oda said. \u201cI’m very grateful that these kids played loose and relaxed.\u201d <\/p>\n
Part of that run was without Room, who missed several games with COVID-19. Oda also managed Hawaii’s 2018 team.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 2018, I thought the next time I came to Williamsport was going to be as a spectator,\u201d he said. \u201cI never thought in my wildest dreams I’d be back in 2022 coaching a team.\u201d <\/p>\n
Hawaii starter Jaron Lancaster was dominant once again Sunday as he threw all four innings, while only allowing three runs, three hits and striking out 10 Curacao hitters. <\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Curacao was going to be a great team,\u201d Jaron said. \u201cMy mindset was to go out there, do my best and do my thing. I know my offense and defense got my back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jaron’s father, James Lancaster, said all the work that went into the title run was worth it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s been a rough ride,\u201d said Lancaster, whose family lives about 4,800 miles from central Pennsylvania. \u201cWe haven’t been home in over a month.\u201d<\/p>\n
Curacao took the first lead of any team over Hawaii in the tournament when Davey Jay-Rijke led off the game with what looked like a bloop single, but he bolted on to second when neither middle infielder were covering that bag. Davey-Jay eventually came around to score on a wild pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cSooner or later, someone’s going to score,\u201d Oda said. \u201cWe told our kids to keep fighting and battling. It’s going to be a great day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hawaii only trailed for a few minutes. A home run from lead-off hitter Kekoa to left field, and a shot by Kama that barely cleared the wall in center, reignited the Hawaii side and put the team from the West region up 2-1. It also chased Curacao starter Shemar Jacobus.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny time when someone can score a run that’s huge,\u201d Oda said. \u201cWhen someone hits a home run, the whole team gets excited and lifts everyone’s spirits.\u201d <\/p>\n
The game ended in the fourth inning when Kama hit a single down the left-field line that scored Esaiah Wong to clinch the victory and another championship for Hawaii.<\/p>\n
Under Little League rules, a team wins if it is leading by 10 runs or more after four innings. <\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the ball go down and I saw coach sending in Ruston (Hiyoto),\u201d Kama said. \u201cI was very emotional. It was the best time I had in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Curacao sits at one title, which came back in 2004. But the team from a small Caribbean island with a population about the size of Springfield, Massachusetts, made it to the final in 2019 as well as this year. <\/p>\n
\u201cI’m so proud of these guys,\u201d said Curacao Manager Zaino Everett, whose team won five elimination games to get to the title game. \u201cWe are a champion and the second team in the whole world. Nobody expected us to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the trophy presentation and news conference were over, and most fans were gone, the Hawaii players celebrated their title in just the way a bunch of 10-to-12-year-old boys would. They went sliding on cardboard sheets down the big hill behind Lamade Stadium. <\/p>\n
___ <\/p>\n
Jake Starr is a Penn State journalism student. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) \u2014 For a week and a half at the Little League World Series, no team came close to Hawaii. The championship Sunday was no different. Hawaii got back-to-back homers from Kekoa Payanal and Kama Angell in the first inning, sparking a 13-3 win in just four innings over Curacao. The LLWS …<\/p>\n