Central East Maui marches on at Little League World Series | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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Central East Maui has been explosive in the early portions of both its games at the Little League Baseball World Series.

The early pushes have given the Maui players early leads in both contests. The offense has slowed at times, but a combination of dominant pitchers has helped close things out. That was the case Friday as Evan Tavares once again was backed by an early lead to help secure a 5-0 victory for Central East Maui over Great Lakes Region champion Hinsdale (Ill.).

The first two batters to face Tavares reached base. That only seemed to motivate the Little Leaguer more, as he dialed in.

“I got mad,” Tavares said. “When I get mad, I throw harder and throw strikes. That was me pretty much getting locked in.”

Tavares sharpened his focus and shut down that first-inning threat. He enjoyed a 1-0 lead soon after when Kanon Nakama drove in a run in the bottom half with a single to right. That lead swelled to 2-0 when Jet Pontes drew a bases-loaded walk in the third to bring home Gabriel Laloulu and then 4-0 when Tavares’ hard grounder went through the Hinsdale shortstop’s legs.

That ability to take advantage of miscues was key for Maui.

“That’s the game,” Central East Maui manager Daniel Bolduc said. “Our last game, that’s what put us in bad positions. Walks and bad pitches. We put pressure on their guys. Hey, a win is a win.”

Tavares struck out nine batters and scattered two hits over 51⁄3 innings. He kept alive his streak of not giving up an earned run in the postseason.

“I realized I just had to keep throwing strikes,” Tavares said. “They weren’t catching up. I was just trying to hit my corners.”

Central East Maui is 2-0 in the LLWS and will play at 9 a.m. Monday against Mountain Region representative Paseo Verde from Henderson, Nev.

Tavares, who earned the win on Wednesday, will not be available to pitch in that game. He reached the 65-pitch limit on his final batter. That will require Tavares to rest three days, according to Little League rules. In Wednesday’s win, Tavares reached 35 pitches on his final batter, which required only a one-day rest, per rules.

Tavares continued to deal into the fifth. He forced two flyouts to center field with three pitches to open the inning. He hit 62 pitches as the inning’s third fly ball to center field ended it with Central East Maui still in front 4-0.

Great Lakes turned to Frederick Sackley in the fifth inning with one out. He hit the first two batters, then Matthew Yang loaded the bases for Central East Maui with his second single.

“I was just trying to barrel the ball up and put it in play,” Yang said. “I was just trying to hit something hard.”

Kamalei Leynes-Santos became the third batter hit, forcing in a run and prompting Great Lakes — trailing 5-0 — to pull him. Emiliano Nepomuceno came in and got out of the jam.

Tavares’ day came to a close in the fifth inning after he reached the pitch limit recording the first out. He ended with nine strikeouts against one walk.

“We left him in until 65 pitches,” Bolduc said. “We wanted two wins.”

Kellen Takamura replaced Tavares, forcing two ground balls to record the save.

As good as Maui’s lineup has been the first two games, Bolduc knows it can do more.

“Our whole team can hit,” Bolduc said. “I’m just waiting for that to happen.”

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East Central Maui 5, Hinsdale (Ill.) 0

Hinsdale (Ill.) 000 000—0 3 1

East Central Maui 103 01X—5 3 0

Dillon Phelan, Grant Wanless (3), Frederick Sackely (5), Emiliano Nepomuceno (5), and Shane Sehar. Evan Tavares, Kellen Takamura (5), and Matthew Yang.

WP: Tavares. LP: Phelan. SV: Kellen Takamura.

Top Great Lakes hitters: Kellan Goodwin 2-2. Top Central East Maui hitters: Matthew Yang 2-2; Gabriel Laloulu 2 runs.

Records: Great Lakes 0-1. Central East Maui 2-0.

Next: Great Lakes vs. Midwest/Metro, Saturday, 9 a.m. Central East Maui vs. Mountain, Monday, 9 a.m.

Friday

Game 9 — Barquisimeto, Venezuela 10, Matamoros, Mexico 0

Game 10 — Central East Maui 5, Hinsdale, Ill. 0

Game 11 — Taoyuan City, Chinese Taipei 11, Sydney, New South Wales 0

Game 12 — Lake Mary, Fla. 6, Puyallup, Wash. 1

Saturday

Game 13 — Guayama, Puerto Rico vs. Surrey, British Columbia, 7 a.m. (ESPN)

Game 14 — Sioux Falls, S.D. vs. Staten Island, N.Y., 9 a.m. (ESPN)

Game 15 — Brno, Czech Republic vs. Santa Cruz, Aruba, 11 a.m. (ESPN)

Game 16 — Salem, N.H. vs. Newtown, Pa., 1 p.m. (ESPN2)

Sunday

Game 17 — Hinsdale, Ill. vs. Sioux Falls, S.D./Staten Island, N.Y. winner, 3 a.m. (ESPN)

Game 18 — Matamoros, Mexico vs. Guayama, Puerto Rico/Surrey, British Columbia winner, 5 a.m. (ESPN)

Game 19 — Salem, N.H./Newtown, Pa. winner vs. Puyallup, Wash. loser, 7 a.m. (KITV)

Game 20 — Brno, Czech Republic/ Santa Cruz, Aruba winner vs. Sydney, New South Wales, 8 a.m. (ESPN)

Monday

Game 21 — Tokyo vs. Barquisimeto, Venezuela winner, 7 a.m. (ESPN)

Game 22 — Henderson, Nev. vs. Central East Maui winner, 9 a.m. (ESPN)

Game 23 — Taoyuan City, Chinese Taipei vs. Santa Clara, Cuba/Brno, Czech Republic winner, 11 a.m. (ESPN)

Game 24 — Lake Mary, Fla. vs. Boerne, Texas, 1 p.m. (ESPN)

BABE RUTH

13-U World Series

At Glen Allen, Va.

Friday

Semifinals

Hawaii New Era 10, Easton Youth (Mass.) 2

W—Desten Napierala Dias-Kaluna. S—Kamau Yojo.

Leading hitters—Hawaii New Era: Noah Kawakami 2-4, 3 runs; Xaeden Lopes 3 runs, 2 RBIs; Yojo 2-4, 2b, 4 RBIs.

Notes: Desten Napierala Dias-Kaluna pitched three hitless innings and Kamau Yojo worked the final four innings against Easton. Yojo batted 2-for-4 with a double and four RBIs, and Noah Kawakami and Xaeden Lopes each scored three runs for Hawaii New Era.

Hawaii New Era (5-0) will play host Glen Allen, Va., in today’s final at 7 a.m. (HST).