The Broncos reached the West Zone title game and the Pony 13s are back in line to reach the World Series final.
It was a good day for Hilo PONY baseball in Whittier, Calif.
The Broncos had shown they could hit, pitch and field, and Saturday they showed they could come back.
Clemson Julian hit a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the seventh, lifting Hilo past Arizona 5-4 and into Sunday’s final, where a World Series berth in the 12-and-under division will be on the line.
“They rose up to the challenge,” coach Gayne Kobayashi said. “They wanted the challenge.”
Hilo had to make up two deficits to vault itself into the final opposite Escondido, Calif. Each team is 3-0 entering the winner-take-all.
Keagan-Hunter Pacheco and Jaziah Oili (2 for 4) each had singles in the seventh to set the table for Julian, who finished with three hits.
“The table-setters did their job,” Kobayashi said.
Noah Palea had three hits and Jarren Sakamoto posted two for Hilo, which used four pitchers: Keyan Kanahele, Neil Colobong-Juayang, Oili and Quinn Waiki.
The Pony 13s pasted host Whittier 10-0 and will have to win twice Sunday to reach Monday’s title game.
“We got it done and got out of there,” coach Shon Malani said.
Brayden Malani was 4 for 4 with an inside-the-park home run, Kaohu Kawelu, Legend Lancaster and Isaiah Justo each had two hits and Gavin Nishida pitched three strong innings in a spot start.
“He did his job,” Malani said.
They all did, but their is more work ahead even before possible rematch against Mexico.
Hilo plays Houston on Sunday, with the winner facing Mexico later in the day under the lights to advance out of its side of the bracket.
After beating Hilo 7-1 on Friday, Mexico beat Houston 4-2 on Saturday.