Williamsport, Pa. >> Jaron Lancaster, who has only thrown 46 pitches at the Little League World Series, displayed the arm that had the world talking with a throw from deep short for the final out of the first inning.
It was enough to pump up the Honolulu Little League team like Kekoa Payanal’s opening home run did in the team’s victory over New York.
It was a good start, but Lancaster’s two-out double in the bottom of the inning proved to do a little more. Daly Watson followed by lifting a ball over the left-field wall for a two-run homer.
“It felt good to score first and get that momentum going into the early innings,” Watson said. “(Cohen Sakamoto) pitched a really good first inning and that kind of set the tone for the rest of the game.”
From that point on Honolulu turned to the arms that got it here, as Sakamoto opened and helped the team advance with a 6-0 win over Pearland, Texas, the Southwest Region representative.
“That was one of the toughest plays I’ve made all year,” Lancaster said. “It was a far throw and I didn’t have a lot of time. That guy was fast and I just had to get rid of it.”
Honolulu (3-0) will play in the U.S. semifinals against Tennessee (3-0) on Wednesday.
Sakamoto, who hasn’t given up a hit in three appearances, got the nod to start, and besides benefiting from Lancaster’s outstanding throw, he fanned two in the opening inning to get Honolulu’s offense to the plate.
He was able to extend Honolulu’s hitless streak to nine innings. It was ultimately lost after 11 innings when Kaiden Shelton chipped a ball into right field during the sixth inning off Lancaster to break up the no-hitter.
Sakamoto kept Texas guessing throughout his time on the mound. He retired five straight batters at one point.
A lot was on the line for Honolulu, as a loss in Monday’s game would have meant having to win three games in as many days to reach the United States championship. But for Honolulu, much like the first two games, the coaching staff managed the pitching and tempo of the game perfectly.
Lancaster matched Watson’s two-run shot with a two-run blast of his own in the third inning for a 4-0 lead.
“Whenever I go to the plate I’m not really worrying about the outcome,” Lancaster said. “I just worry about the things I can control like my rhythm and my timing. I just go out there and try to do my best and get the best outcome.”
Texas got its first baserunner in the second when Sakamoto gave up a walk, but he came back to strike out Corey Kahn on just three pitches.
“We have a mindset that we just want to overwhelm teams with our aggressiveness at the plate,” coach Keith Oda said. “These guys have done a great job. We wouldn’t score every inning, but there’s a threat we can score every inning and break the game open. We work on defeating the other team’s will to win.”
Sakamoto, who has pitched in every game, has been dominant in all three of his World Series appearances.
“They have a really strict regimen of drills and exercises,” Oda said of the pitchers. “We do a lot of conditioning throughout the year. It’s not easy, but it pays off in times like this when they need to reach back and hit that velocity.”
Kama Angell recorded his first hit of the night with a hard-hit ground ball up the middle of the field as the Honolulu faithful cheering section grew louder.
The hit set the table for Lancaster, who connected with his second home run of the tournament and a 4-0 lead.
Jonnovyn Sniffen came on as a pinch hitter after the home run and struck out. The catcher dropped the third strike and couldn’t even make a throw because Sniffen got down the baseline so fast. Two consecutive walks followed to load the bases for Honolulu.
A diving catch by Corey Kahn in the left field ended the threat.
Payanal got to first in the fourth inning for his first hit. That was quickly followed by an infield single by Angell, which brought Lancaster to the plate with two runners on base. A short ball to right field was caught. Angell was then called out for leaving second base too early.
Honolulu wanted to challenge the call, but was informed that it was not a reviewable call.
Sakamoto’s day on the mound ended after four innings with 60 pitches. Jonnoyvyn Sniffen came on, pitched two-thirds of an inning and put two runners on. Lancaster then entered and got a flyout to center to get out of the jam and then finished it off in the sixth with a strikeout to end the game.
“We generally always focus on five,” Oda said of pitchers they have confidence in. “We have five guys we would be confident in. We know they can get there and throw strikes.”
Watson opened the bottom of the fifth inning with a walk to prompt a pitching change from Texas. He advanced to second and third on passed balls. Honolulu would add two in the frame on a triple by Sakamoto to set the final score and advance.
Honolulu Little League 6, Pearland, Texas 0
Texas (1-1) 000 000—0 1 0
Honolulu (3-0) 202 02X—6 7 0
Jackson Wolfe, Jacob Zurek (4), Cooper Arbaugh (5), and Ford Hill. Cohen Sakamoto, Jonnovyn Sniffen (5), Jaron Lancaster (5) and Kaeo Nouchi.
WP—Sakamoto. LP—Wolfe.
Leading hitters: Pearland, Texas—Kaiden Shelton 1-3. Honolulu—Kama Angell 2-3, run; Jaron Lancaster 2-3, HR, 2B, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Daly Watson 1-2, HR, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Cohen Sakamoto 1-2, 3B, 2 RBIs.
