Honolulu holds off Central Maui, will play Hilo for Little League title

Honolulu benefited from early wildness from Central Maui, then turned to Kalihau Hugo’s power bat and Easton Ifuku’s power arm to pull out a victory Monday.

Honolulu scored three runs on wild pitches over the first two innings and Hugo belted a two-run homer in the fourth as Honolulu beat Central Maui 5-4 in the Little League (ages 12-younger) State Tournament at Puuiki Beach Park field in Waialua.

“We didn’t play very well,” Honolulu manager Matt Inouye said. “I thought defensively we muffed a lot of balls. Fortunately, we were able to hang around with a good team. Maui’s well coached, they can play catch, they can hit the ball and one through 12 are dangerous for them. We were fortunate to pull out this win. Luck was a little bit on our side today.”

Honolulu will need to defeat Hilo twice today to win the title. The first final of the double-elimination tournament is at 10 a.m., with the “if necessary” final to follow.

The Hawaii state champion advances to the four-team West Regional, which starts Aug. 5 in San Bernardino, Calif. The regional winner qualifies for the World Series in Williamsport, Pa. A team from Honolulu won the most prestigious Little League title last year. In 2021, a team from Honolulu finished third in a tournament that featured only U.S. teams. No Little League World Series was held in 2020.

Ifuku, who relieved starter Mateo Bennett, pitched 22⁄3 hitless innings for the save against Central Maui. Ifuku, who started at shortstop, struck out three batters.

In the top of the sixth, Central Maui’s Josiah Yamada reached on a fielding error by the second baseman. With No. 3 hitter Kaden Grancha at the plate, Yamada tried to advance on a pitch in the dirt but was thrown out by Honolulu catcher Aiden Nagata. Grancha reached first on a throwing error by Ikufu, but the reliever recovered to strike out the next two batters to end the game.

“We don’t really rely on Easton too much on the mound,” said Inouye, a former UH standout. “Today was kind of a default because we were missing a few guys who are on rest days. We know he has a strong arm and sometimes he has trouble throwing strikes, but he’s a gamer and he’s a guy who wants the ball in those pressure cooker situations.”

Central Maui scored in the first inning when Briell Hong singled in Yamada.

Honolulu tied it at 1-1 in the bottom half when Triton Wong scored on a wild pitch by Hong.

Central Maui retook the lead in the second when Maddox Prones’ pop-up was lost in the sun by the first baseman, which allowed Evan Tavares to score from second.

Honolulu took a 3-2 lead in the bottom half after Ryden Inoshita and Cade Butcher scored on wild pitches.

“If we don’t score on those wild pitches, it’s a whole ’nother ball game,” Inouye said.

Honolulu extended the lead to 5-2 in the third on Hugo’s homer to right-center, which scored Wong.

“I just swung as hard as I could and hoped I made contact,” Hugo said. “Once it left my bat, I knew it was gone, so I could go and celebrate with my team.”

Said Inouye: “When he hits it, he’s real infectious as far as his personality goes. You know when he comes around third base, he’s looking in the dugout looking to pump up his team. When he does that, he pumps me up, too.”

Central Maui got within 5-4 in the fourth on Jaxon Delos Santos’ RBI single and Tavares’ run-scoring double.

“Huge hits to get us back in the game,” Central Maui manager Van Delos Santos said. “Kept the rally going and kept us close and gave us a chance.”

Ifuku entered for Honolulu after Tavares’ hit.

Hong pitched a complete game with five strikeouts for Central Maui. She finished strong by striking out the side in the fifth.

“She’s been our ace for a long time in league play,” Delos Santos said. “She pitched one helluva game out here. Unfortunate (as far as the result), but give praise to Honolulu.”

On Sunday, Hilo defeated Honolulu 3-0.

“Another super well-coached team,” Inouye said of Hilo. “You watch them warm up and everybody can play catch, everybody’s going about their business right, so you just know the coaching staff over there has things going the right ways. We’re going to have to play flawless for 12 innings and hopefully we can come out on the right side.”

Inouye said only Bennett and Ifuku will be unavailable to pitch today because of Little League’s pitch limits.