Michigan Falls To Hawaii 8-3 In Little League World Series

WILLIAMSPORT, PA — Despite taking the early lead and staging a late rally, Michigan fell to Hawaii on Sunday afternoon in the second round of the Little League World Series. Grosse Pointe Woods-Shores (1-1) )lost 8-3 to Honolulu (2-0) at the Howard J. Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Grosse Pointe started the game off right, scraping across a run in the top of the 1st inning on a pop fly that landed between four Honolulu infielders. But Michigan would be held scoreless until the sixth inning, when it scored two runs in a short-lived comeback effort.

Outside of that Hawaii dominated, with the game quickly getting out of hand in the 2nd inning. Pitcher Ryan Knaebel walked the first batter in the inning, plunked the second and then allowed a run to score on a wild pitch. Two more runs would cross the plate before Aukai Kea doubled to center field, knocking in a runner. In all, Hawaii scored six runs in the inning thanks in large part to five wild pitches, three hit batsmen and three walks. Hawaii would add two more runs in the 3rd inning to put the game out of reach.

Honolulu pitching stifled Grosse Pointe's bats most of the afternoon. Holt threw 3.1 innings and gave up just one earned run on two hits and two walks. He struck out four batters. John de la Cruz added another 1.2 innings of shutout ball and struck out a pair. The team as a whole allowed three runs on five hits and two walks.

Grosse Pointe heads to the loser's bracket and will play an elimination game against Iowa on Monday. Meanwhile, Hawaii will face New York in the semi-final Wednesday. The winner of that game will play in the U.S. championship game Saturday.

Grosse Point, representing the Great Lakes region, went undefeated in the regional tournament (4-0) and then roared back in its first game against Idaho, scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and wining in walk-off fashion. Ryan Knaebel and Preston Barr each collected two hits in the game, including one double each. Pitcher Brennan Hill allowed three runs, two earned — in his two innings of work. Barr pitched 3.1 innings in relief and allowed no runs on two hits.

Hawaii breezed through the West regional tournament, but needed extra innings — five extra, to be exact — to beat Georgia in its first game of the World Series. Aukai Kea lined a pitch over the left-center field fence in the bottom of the 11th inning to give Honolulu a dramatic 2-0 walk-off victory Friday. Hawaii pitchers dominated the night. Kea hurled 6.1 innings of shut out ball, allowing just two hits and striking out 10 batters. Ka'olu Holt and Sean Yamaguchi combined to throw 4.2 innings of shut out ball. They each allowed just one hit and struck out a combined six batters.

Rosters

Michigan

#1 Reggie Sharpe P, IF

#2 Ryan Henderson C, OF

#4 Marwynn Matthews OF, IF

#5 Jake Martin C

#6 Jarren Purify P, IF

#7 JJ Schoeck OF, IF

#8 Elliott Nederhood OF

#9 Cameron Schafer P, IF

#10 Chase Mazey P, OF

#12 Preston Barr P, IF

#13 Oliver Service P, OF

#19 Brennan Hill P, OF, IF

#24 Ryan Knaebel P, OF

Hawaii

#00 Zachary Won OF

#1 John De la Cruz P, OF

#2 Aukai Kea P, 3B

#6 Chandler Murray OF

#11 Taylin Oana SS

#13 Mana Lau Kong P, 1B

#14 Kaolu Holt P, 3B

#15 Sean Yamaguchi P, 2B

#16 Kory Chu P, OF

#22 Jace Souza OF

#24 Bruce Boucher C

#26 Hunter Nishina OF

#43 Tanner Chun 2B, SS, OF

#99 Caleb Okada 1B, OF

Photo courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball / Graphic by Kristin Borden