LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
Stevens, Fabro give Waipio a big lift
STORY SUMMARY »
Jordan Stevens hit two home runs, including a three-run shot in the seventh inning, to lift Waipio to a 14-11 win over Northern California yesterday in the Little League West Regional in San Bernardino, Calif.
Waipio improved to 1-1 in pool play and faces Nevada today.
» Punahou advanced to the Babe Ruth (13-15) World Series Pacific Southwest Regional title game with an 8-5 win over Manteca (Central California) yesterday in Hanford, Calif. Punahou will play either Manteca or South Reno in the final tomorrow.
» Pearl City finished undefeated in its pool at the Junior League (13-14) West Regional in Beaverton, Ore., with a 9-6 win over Arizona yesterday. The team went 4-0 in Pool A and next plays in the quarterfinals tomorrow morning.
» At the USABF 18-and-under World Series in San Diego, West Oahu tied the San Diego Show 2-2 and defeated Santa Rosa 3-2 yesterday to improve to 3-0-1 in pool play.
STAR-BULLETIN
FULL STORY »
By John Murphy / Special to the Star-Bulletin
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. » Jordan Stevens admitted to being nervous at the plate yesterday against Northern California.
But you couldn't tell by the performance of the tall Waipio Little League slugger. His two home runs, including a three-run shot in the seventh inning, helped lift Waipio to 14-11 win over NorCal in a wild game at Al Houghton Stadium.
It was the second game of pool play for Waipio (1-1) at the Northwest Regional.
"I had some butterflies when I got up," Stevens said of his seventh-inning smash. "But I guess I did all right."
Stevens' laser inside the left-field foul pole extended Waipio's lead to four runs (NorCal scored one in the bottom of the seventh), leading Waipio to its first regional victory.
Waipio led 6-0 after 2 1/2 innings, but Moreland District Little League (San Jose) of Northern California kept coming back, including a four-run third-inning rally.
John Bognanno's solo home run to right field started NorCal's rally.
NorCal also scored four in the sixth to tie the game 10-10 and send it into extra innings. Sean Downey crushed a two-run homer to right field to spark that rally.
It was big victory for Waipio, which has six players out of 14 who are just 11 years old.
"These kids are resilient," said manager Timo Donahue, a police detective by profession. "They don't give up."
Stevens had three hits and four RBIs. He and Westin Fabro hit consecutive home runs in a five-run third inning.
Fabro's long solo shot (before Stevens') to right field had Waipio's faithful literally dancing behind the first-base screen.
Chad Uyehara pitched well over 1 1/3 innings for Waipio, allowing just one hit and one run. He earned the victory.
Besides Stevens, Khade Paris, Fabro and Iolani Akau had two hits each for Waipio, including a long solo homer to right by Akau in the second inning.
Waipio plays Nevada today at 2 p.m. Hawaii time as pool play continues. The team completes pool play Wednesday against Arizona.
The top four seeds following pool play advance to Thursday's semifinals. The championship, and a berth in the Little League World Series, will be decided on Saturday.
» Kahana Neal and Sumi Pruett drove in two runs each as the Pearl City Junior Little League team defeated Arizona 9-6 to finish undefeated in pool play at the West Regional in Beaverton, Ore.
Chace Numata picked up the win as Pearl City completed pool play at 4-0. The team plays in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 6 a.m. Hawaii time.
» Michael Suiter hit a two-run homer in Punahou's 8-5 win over Manteca (Central California) in the Pacific Southwest Regional in Hanford, Calif., moving within a win of the Babe Ruth League World Series.
Jeremy Fujimoto started for Punahou and returned to the mound in the fifth and earned the win. Alakai Aglipay went 2-for-3 for Punahou, which will play either Manteca or South Reno in the regional final tomorrow.
» West Oahu posted a win and a tie in pool-play action in the 18-and-under division at the U.S. Amateur Baseball Federation Senior World Series in San Diego.
The game between West Oahu and the San Diego Show ended at 2-2 due to the 2-hour time limit. West Oahu starter Chris Pascual had seven strikeouts in the tie.
West Oahu then defeated Santa Rosa 3-2, with Waylen Sing Chow earning the win and Scott Fisher picking up a save. Both posted five strikeouts.