SAN BERNARDINO, CA >> Waipio Little League scored runs in bunches on Friday, earning a 15-0 victory over Snow Canyon, Utah, to advance to the championship game of the 2015 Western Regional Little League Baseball tournament.

While Waipio’s offensive totals were impressive, the total was one fewer than the Southern California team from Bonita, Calif., scored in their 16-9 victory over Waipio in the opening game. Bonita is a suburb of San Diego.

The two teams meet for a rematch on Saturday, and Bonita stands in the way of a Waipio tournament victory and a trip to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., later this month. The game will be televised on ESPN2 at 3 p.m. Hawaii time.

Waipio came out aggressively on offense and on the pitching mound. Coach Ray Motta Jr. advised his group to be aggressive while being disciplined enough not to swing at pitches that were away from the strike zone.

"We wanted the players to lay off the off-speed stuff," Motta said.

Waipio wasted no time, scoring four runs in the first inning. Five of the first six batters had hits. Hunter Sasaki singled home two runs, while Kaiwi Winchester had an RBI double and Sage Koahou drove home the fourth run with a single to center.

"Our goal was to attack the ball early," said Sasaki, who wears the number 51 on his jersey because it is the same number as Ichiro Suzuki, who has 4,191 hits during his career in the United States and Japan.

There was no let-up as Waipio scored five runs in the second inning and added six in the third. Sasaki hit a two-run homer in the second and recorded his fifth and sixth RBIs with a third-inning single to third.

Almost everybody joined the Waipio hit parade. Winchester had two RBI doubles, starting pitcher Anu Reis hit a home run that hit a tent in right field, and three of the four reserves also contributed a hit.

Waipio and Bonita are the two offensive powerhouse teams in the tournament. In the opening game for both teams last Sunday, Bonita scored six runs in the top of the first inning, but Waipio came right back with seven runs in the bottom of the inning.

"There should be a real slugfest in that game," said Snow Canyon coach Gavin Frei. Bonita defeated Snow Canyon on Thursday by an 11-1 score, and the Utah group was affected because Frei’s son, Landon, was not eligible to pitch. "I would have liked to have Landon to pitch, and I think it would have been tighter."

Reis said he concentrated on throwing strikes and thought he did well. He also learned something about their Southern California opponents.

"They (Bonita) can really hit high pitches," he said.

The team has also used a watermelon as a sort of mascot. One of the players, Cayden Okada, keeps the watermelon in a cooler filled with ice. A watermelon has been with the team through the district and state playoffs.

After winning the state tournament on the Big Island, Motta said the players did something special.

"They gave the watermelon to a homeless man who was on the beach," he said. Reis said the man helped to keep the beach clean.