Honolulu pitchers overpower SoCal foe at Little League West Region opener

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. >> Glendora American Little League manager Randy Tymchak has a team that has hit 21 home runs on its way to the Little League West Region. The Southern California representative hasn’t seen anything like Honolulu Little League pitchers Jaron Lancaster and Cohen Sakamoto.

Lancaster struck out 12 batters and Sakamoto added four more strikeouts to lead Honolulu to a 3-0 victory. The pair allowed only one hit and didn’t allow an opposing batter to reach third base.

“We haven’t seen velocity like that all year,” Tymchak said. There wasn’t a speed gun reading, but Tymchak estimated the pitches were over 70 mph. “That’s a lot considering it is only 46 feet to the plate. We didn’t hit a ball hard all night.”

Tymchak advised his players to try to shorten up on the bat and try to hit a pitch early in the count.

“You can’t look for a certain pitch,” Tymchak said. Lancaster said he mostly threw fastballs, and would only go to an off-speed pitch if he thought hitters were catching up to the fastball.

Honolulu will play Northern California in the semifinals on Monday at 11 a.m. Hawaii time. If Hawaii wins that game, it will play in Friday’s championship game. Southern California will play an elimination game today against Arizona.

The crowd, which was estimated to be about 6,000, favored Glendora American, which is about 45 miles from San Bernardino. Honolulu fans managed to make themselves heard as well.

“I heard one person doing the haka dance and leading the cheers,” said Lancaster. “It was very loud, but I just tried to be myself.”

Manager Gerald Oda told his players to enjoy themselves.

“Enjoy every moment, focus, and do your best,” Oda said. “Hats off to Glendora — they have great kids and great coaches. I felt like I lost about 15 pounds during the game.”

Lancaster allowed an infield single to Sebastian Lawrence in the first inning. He was replaced by Sakamoto with one out in the fifth inning. Removing Lancaster, who threw 69 pitches, allows Lancaster to be eligible to pitch in Wednesday’s elimination game should Honolulu lose to Northern California on Monday.

Oda said Sakamoto, who threw 20 pitches, will start Monday’s game.

Sakamoto can throw 85 pitches on Monday. If Glendora American can reach the Wednesday game, it could be a rematch of last night’s starting pitchers, as Josh Calcanas would be eligible against Lancaster.

Brennan Tomas led off the third inning with a double to left. He advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Kaeo Nouchi. The game stayed tight until the sixth, when Honolulu got two insurance runs. Esaiah Wong opened the inning with a double and Daly Watson reached first when he was hit by the pitch.

Kama Angell made an infield out, but each runner advanced. Tomas then hit a smash to third base to bring home Watson.

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