The Honolulu U-12 All-Star team cruised to the 2018 Little League World Series title, shutting out four of its five opponents and outscoring the competition 26-3.
The names and faces have all changed, but the lofty expectations remain the same as the Honolulu All-Stars return to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the 2021 World Series.
“We feel very proud that we’ve gotten to this level,” Honolulu manager Brandon Sardinha said. “We want to keep the tradition alive and represent the league and our state well.”
Honolulu, the West Region champion, begins pool play in the Hank Aaron bracket Thursday at 7 a.m. on ESPN against New England Region runner-up Manchester, Conn.
“I don’t know much about them,” Manchester manager Rob Rastelli said. “I try not to research too much on the other team so I don’t psych myself out. I know that they scored a lot of runs and I knew that they were aggressive on the basepaths, but that’s about it.”
Thursday’s winner will play the New Jersey-Nebraska winner on Sunday. The loser plays the New Jersey-Nebraska loser on Saturday.
This year, the top two teams from each of the eight U.S. regional tournaments advance to the World Series, which runs through Aug. 29.
Normally, the eight U.S. regional champions and eight international teams make up the 16-team World Series field. But due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 World Series will be limited to U.S. teams only. The teams will be split into two eight-team brackets named after Tom Seaver and Aaron.
Honolulu opened West regional play with a 15-0 win in three innings over Washington (Utah) on Aug. 8.
Prior to its winner’s bracket game against Summerlin (Nevada) the next day, Honolulu was informed that one of its players had tested positive for COVID-19.
The player who tested positive and an unvaccinated player were sent home. The rest of the team was allowed to remain in the tournament.
Honolulu beat Summerlin 7-6 and then defeated Petaluma (California) 13-3 in five innings on Thursday to advance to the regional championship game and punch its ticket to Williamsport.
Confidence is high
Honolulu erased an early two-run deficit to beat Torrance (California) 7-2 in the regional championship game Saturday.
“Every game we win, our confidence jumps up,” Sardinha said. “We’re going in the right direction heading into the World Series.”
Ryan Keanu went 6-for-10 (.600) with eight RBIs and seven runs scored for Honolulu at the West regional. Micah Bennett produced seven hits, two RBIs and six runs scored while Pele Payanal added seven hits, six RBIs and four runs scored.
Eli Iopa allowed five runs (four earned) in 6Ï innings of work in two appearances in the West regional. Keanu threw five scoreless innings in two appearances.
Honolulu will be without ambidextrous pitcher and switch hitter Tyler Shindo, who threw three scoreless innings of relief in the regional championship game.
The 12-year-old, who went 6-for-9 with five RBIs and four runs scored in the West regional, is playing in USA Baseball’s National Team Identification series in North Carolina instead.
“It was a great opportunity for him, an opportunity that he wanted to try,” Sardinha said. “It’s tough to lose him, but we have a very good team.”
Maher writes for the Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.