By BILL O’REAR
By BILL O’REAR
Tribune-Herald sports editor
The hard-hitting Hilo All-Stars brought out the heavy lumber and hammered Oregon 17-3 in a five-inning TKO semifinal win Monday at the Little League Seniors Western Regional baseball tournament in Ontario, Calif.
The nine-team event for players ages 15-17 wraps up today with unbeaten Hilo (5-0) taking on Southern California (4-1) in the championship game at 3 p.m. at Littleton Field. The winner advances to the Seniors World Series, Aug. 11-18, in Bangor, Maine. Hilo is the defending Western Regional and World Series champion.
On Monday, Southern California, the Pool B second seed, fought past Pool A top seed Northern California 3-2 to reach the title game. Hilo, the Pool B top seed, beat Southern California 6-3 to end pool play Sunday.
“Our boys really hit the ball well today,” Hilo manager Zackery Higa said. “Oregon had a lot of walks and errors, but it came down to our boys just doing what they’ve been doing.
“I also got to rest our starters after the third inning and we got a lot of guys into the game. The second team played awesome.”
The Big Islanders scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning, two in the second, eight in the third and three in the fourth in their offensive explosion. In the third inning, Hilo had seven of its 13 hits in a wild frame.
“There was a lot of action in that inning,” Hilo assistant coach Clayton Ah Hee said. “Oregon had two walks, a beaned batter and some errors that helped us, but our boys came through with some timely hits. The biggest hit was Kobi Candaroma’s RBI double.”
Oregon plated a run in the first inning and two in the third before being shut out the final two frames.
Ryan Torres-Torioka started for Hilo and went two innings. In earning the win, he allowed two hits and a run while striking out four and not giving up a walk. Torres-Torioka was followed on the mound by Bronson Pulgados (2/3 inning, 3 hits, 2 runs, 1 strikeout), Chad Teshima (1/3 inning, no hits), Austin Ah Hee (1 1/3 innings, 3 hits, 1 strikeout) and Kupono Decker (1 inning, no hits).
“Our pitchers did good again,” Higa said. “Everybody did their job.”
Oregon starter Tyler Ross was saddled with the defeat. He didn’t get out of the first inning and was followed on the mound by two other hurlers.
Micah Ka’aukai (1 RBI), Makoa Rosario (1 RBI) and Tyler Thornley each had two hits to lead Hilo. Evyn Yamaguchi (3 RBIs), Chad Teshima (double, 2 RBIs), Candaroma (1 RBI), Tyler Higa-Gonsalves, Pulgados, Decker and Austin Ah Hee each added a base hit.
Teshima’s two-run double was the key hit in the first inning when Hilo rallied from a 1-0 deficit to grab a 4-1 advantage.
“The boys really played well today,” assistant coach Ah Hee said.
Manager Higa believes his team will be ready to battle Southern California in today’s title game.
“We’re going to come out and play hard,” he said. “We’re going to play our game and not let anything bother us. Southern California will be more nervous than us because we beat them in pool play.
“We’re confident in our boys. We’ve seen their ace pitcher. He throws hard, but we’re confident we can hit him. For us, it’s just a matter of our boys playing their game. If they do that, we should be fine.”
Oregon had nine hits and committed five errors on Monday. For the fourth time in five games, Hilo did not commit an error in chalking up the lopsided victory over Oregon.
In earlier Pool B action, Hilo defeated Nevada 13-3, Montana 10-0, Arizona 9-7 and Southern California. Northern California and Oregon tied for top honors in Pool A, with 2-1 records. Northern California claimed the top seed in the tournament’s tiebreaker rules.
Members of the Hilo All-Stars include Alika Guillermo, Chay Toson, Kupono Decker, Micah Ka’aukai, Kobi Candaroma, Bronson Pulgados, Ryan Torres-Torioka, Chad Teshima, Makoa Rosario, Tyler Higa-Gonsalves, Kihei Serrao, Elijah Cruz, Tyler Thornley, Evyn Yamaguchi and Austin Ah Hee. Zackery Higa is the manager with assistant coaches Clayton Ah Hee and Gadi Pulgados.
Oregon 102 00 — 3 9 5
Hilo 428 3x — 17 13 0