Torrance caught looking ahead, loses to Hawaii
SAN BERNARDINO >> The pressure was turned off and Torrance Little League reacted accordingly.
With the team’s flight already booked to Williamsport, Penn., and its place secure at the Little League World Series, Southern California’s 11- and 12-year-old champions were unable to find “that late-inning lightning” in a 7-2 loss to Hawaii on Saturday in the West Region championship game at Al Houghton Stadium.
“I think we came into this game already thinking of the trip Williamsport, and I think the kids were a little exhausted with everything that’s been going on,” Torrance Little League manager Javier Chavez said.
Grants Hays had a tworun hit for the fourth consecutive game, and Skyler Vinson pitched three strong innings, but Torrance was unable to stop Hawaii’s offense from big innings in the fourth and fifth in taking its first loss since the West Region opener.
“We want to win every game, but I think we took our foot off the gas once we got that lead, we got a little too comfortable, and in the end we weren’t able to find that late-inning lightning,” Chavez said.
Southern California loaded the bases in the first inning for Hays, who sliced a two-run double into the right-field corner for his eighth and ninth RBIs of the tournament.
“Grant is on it and this is the best I’ve seen him,” Chavez said. “Grant is happy, he’s focused and his bat has come alive right when we needed it.”
Vinson pitched a quiet first two innings and started a brilliant double-play turn in the third, but allowed a run to score with two outs before exiting.
“I was happy to see how well ‘Sky’ pitched. He held them up until he was taken out, but we didn’t want to spend his arm,” Chavez said.
SoCal’s bullpen, already overworked from the team battling its way out of the elimination bracket, faltered, and Hawaii’s patience paid off when Honolulu Little League’s Pele Payanal stroked a bases-clearing double over the head of the right fielder in the fourth inning.
“Our hitters are extremely good at seeing the ball and very selective at their pitches,” Hawaii manager Brandon Sardinha said. “They are very good at what they do.”
Hawaii added three more runs in the fourth as SoCal’s defense committed its third of three errors on the day.
“We knew how tough this was going to be considering especially how we’d exhausted our top pitchers, and our defense needs to make plays, but it just got away from us,” Chavez said.
Hawaii’s ambidextrous pitcher, Tyler Shindo, pitched two shutout innings in his final appearance for Honolulu Little League, with Sardinha confirming that Shindo will not compete at the Little League World Series after previously committing to a USA Baseball Under-12 showcase event.
On Monday, both teams will be driven separately to Ontario International Airport for immediate departure for Williamsport. Hawaii plays Connecticut in the tournament opener at 10 a.m. on Thursday. Southern California plays New Hampshire at 1 p.m. on Thursday.