They build them big in Dixie, Utah, where the Little League sluggers there are much larger than the average 11 to 13 year old.
They build them big in Dixie, Utah, where the Little League sluggers there are much larger than the average 11 to 13 year old.
Utah out-clubbed Hilo 12-6 in the semifinals of the West Regionals on Friday in San Bernardino, Calif., where coach Baba Lancaster’s club couldn’t stop an offensive onslaught.
It was a good run. Hilo (2-2) won the Big Island’s first Little League state championship since 1987. The team was unbeaten in districts (Big Island) and states.
Oahu’s Ewa Beach (2005) and Waipahu (2008) captured the state’s only Little League championships.
Hilo jumped to a 6-0 lead after two innings, then Kean Webb got in a groove and the Big Island boys couldn’t score again.
Dixie put up a four-spot in the third, fourth, and fifth innings, highlighted by homers from Matt McArthur and Parker Andrus.
They each batted 2 for 3 with two RBIs to spark Utah’s 13-hit attack over six innings. Webb was also a force; he went 2 for 3 with three RBIs.
McArthur started, struggled in one inning and gave up five runs. Webb dominated over five innings. He pitched one-run ball with nine strikeouts for the win.
Hawaii ace Kaimana Kuamoo pitched on four days rest, went three innings and allowed eight runs in the loss. He struck out seven but walked five and yielded seven hits.
Klayson Herolaga tossed an inning and surrendered four runs, and Tyler Halemanu went two scoreless innings and whiffed four.
Joshua Ward hit a homer and batted 3 for 4 with two RBIs, and Wailele Kane-Yates was 1 for 4 with two RBIs to lead Hilo, which had eight hits.
Softball
Nobu Yamauchi fell to Mathews-Dickey Boys and Girls Club 9-1 in the semifinals of the RBI World Series on Thursday in Cincinnati.
Mathews-Dickey, the eventual champion from St. Louis, scored three runs in the second and six in the seventh in the 19U tournament.
Hilo-based Nobu Yamauchi had just five hits and made six errors.
Makena Wagner, a 2017 Kamehameha graduate, batted 1 for 3 with an RBI to lead Nobu Yamauchi.
Meghan Schorman went the distance for the win.
She also beat eight-time champion Atlanta 2-1 on Friday for Mathews-Dickey’s first title with a six-hitter.