KAILUA-KONA — Hilo took the road less traveled to arrive at its championship destination, but all the twist and turns that went with the spills and thrills made it well worth the mileage of the four-day, five-game journey.
Behind big pitching, timely hitting and clutch performances all around, Hilo knocked off West Side in a pair of games to claim the Little League District 4 title in the 8-9-10 Division on Sunday at Old Kona Airport Park.
Hilo won both games 5-4 and each of the contests ended with a play at the plate to keep West Side from scoring the tying run.
With the win, Hilo advances to the state tournament on Oahu.
“There was a ton of adversity but these kids battled back over and over again,” Hilo manager Che Doran said. “We had some amazing pitching, the bats came alive and the defense was on. Hats off to Kona — they are a tough team and this was a battle. It was amazing to see these kids on both sides come out here and give it their all.”
In the winner-take-all finale, the tensions were at an all-time high in the top half of the final inning as West Side looked to tie the game. The first two runners reached with no outs, but Hilo was able to hold West Side off the scoreboard and get two outs. However, it didn’t come without a casualty.
On a play at the plate, pitcher Logen Doran raced home to prevent West Side from scoring the tying run. It resulted in a big collision at home plate and both players were injured on the play. The West Side runner was called out and Hilo maintained its one-run edge.
Playing its fifth game since Thursday, Hilo was running out of pitching options with Doran unable to stay in the game and had already used all their subs. After an extended talk on the finer points of Little League rules between the coaches, officials and umpires, Evan Porter took the mound and got the final out.
“We call (Logen) Rick Vaughn, he’s got the haircut and everything. He throws gas but doesn’t always control it. He came in and did what we needed him to do before getting injured on that play,” said Che Doran, Logen’s dad. “Then Evan came in and was super clutch for us. One batter, one out and we’re out of here.”
Wrapped with ice around his side, Logen Doran was pumped to see his squad pull out the victory.
“It’s pretty awesome,” he said, before recapping a play earlier in the game where he jumped over the catcher to score — further evidence of his “Wild Thing” persona.
The team dedicated the win to their former manager, Kelii Kaupu Jr., who is dealing with a brain tumor. He stepped down from his post just before the tournament. He celebrated on the field with the team, and even got the Gatorade bath following the victory.
“He already has the stuff going on with his, we didn’t want to give him heart problems too,” Doran joked.
Hilo finished with a 4-1 record, the team’s only loss coming Friday to West Side.
“I promised them all we’d go to KBXtreme,” Doren said. “It’s going to make my wallet a little lighter but it’s well worth it.”