Williamsport, Pa. >> Central East Maui coach Daniel Bolduc left his ace in against Great Lakes on Friday to secure a win at the Little League Baseball World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

That decision put pressure on his offense and pitching staff to deliver in a tight contest against Henderson, Nev., of the Mountain Region on Monday at Lamade Stadium. The offense produced a series-high nine hits, but the walks issued by pitchers and two fielding errors proved costly this time around.

A walk with the bases loaded brought Gunner Beranek home after he opened the sixth inning with a walk. It was enough as an outstanding play in left field and solid pitching closed out a 3-2 victory for Nevada.

The loss dropped Central East Maui into an elimination game against the Mid-Atlantic Region representative from Newtown, Pa., at 9 a.m. today.

Henderson didn’t need any other pitcher than Gunnar Gaudin on Monday. He pitched all six innings to secure the win. He fanned five but pitched to contact and trusted his defense.

“I came into the game feeling good and ready to pitch,” Gaudin said. “They gave me the ball and I was really excited to see what I could do.”

Gaudin scattered nine hits and bounced back when West challenged. He gave up runs in the fourth and fifth but came back to close it out in the sixth with some help from his defense.

“It felt like I executed and we had a good outcome,” Gaudin said.

Kamalei Leynes-Santos singled through the middle with one out in the bottom of the sixth. Jet Pontes attempted to move the tying run to second with a bunt but missed his first attempt. Pontes struck out on an outside 0-2 pitch that the Henderson catcher one-hopped. Leynes-Santos, seeing the ball was in the dirt, extended his lead off first. But Henderson catcher Parker Soranaka scooped the ball up cleanly and threw to first base behind Leynes-Santos, who then took off for second but could not beat the throw and was tagged for the third out.

“I think Gunnar kind of hit on it, but we believe in everyone we have that can throw,” Henderson manager Adam Johnson said. “Wyatt did a great job starting off (in the Series) and we told Gunnar all the time it’s time for him to make a statement.”

Central East Maui manager Daniel Bolduc declined to participate in the press conference after the game.

Walks bit Central East Maui Little League on Monday.

After Soranaka and Dominic Laino each walked off starter Cam Kaneshiro, Jimmy Foss loaded the bases with a single. Luke Lentz followed as Nevada took a 1-0 lead on Maui. Lentz finished with a single and an RBI. He also stole a base.

Kaneshiro forced a ground ball to Liam Sparks at first base. Sparks fielded the grounder cleanly and touched first before any more damage could be done.

“You just gotta shake it off, you can’t let it phase you, man,” Gaudin said. “They’re a good team, they had some good hits. You can’t let it phase you, you have to stay focused and stick with your game plan.”

Central East Maui failed to capitalize on early a threat in the first inning as Gauge Pacheco and Evan Tavares were stranded after back-to-back singles put runners on the corners with nobody out. Both runners were stranded on two flyouts and a strikeout.

In the fourth, Tavares hit his second single and scored on Brextyn Kamaha’o Hong’s double to the left field wall, tying the game a 1-1.

Pacheco spelled Kaneshiro in the third inning. After he got through the third and fourth unscathed, Laino opened the fifth with a single. Lentz reached on a fielding error, allowing Laino to score. Pacheco fanned Gaudin for the third out. Matthew Yang dropped the ball, but quickly collected it. A light throw to Takahashi ended the inning.

Maui turned a 6-4-3 double play in the third inning after Gaudin opened with a single. The defense continued as Kolten Magno made a diving stop at second. He quickly got up and set himself before throwing a dart to Takahashi for the final out of the inning. Takahashi also made an over-the-shoulder catch on a foul ball in the second inning.

Pumped by the highlight-quality stop, Magno looked to the Maui faithful and pounded his chest. He was greeted by loud cheers from fans in front of the Central East Maui dugout.

Pacheco got into a situation after two singles in the top of the fourth inning. With a runner on third, Noah Letalu came to the plate looking to add to Henderson’s lead. Pacheco got him swinging, then fielded a bunt from Soranaka for the final out of the inning.

Hong looked at the Maui fans and spread his hands over the West logo on his jersey. 

Maui’s Hayden Takahashi opened the bottom of the fifth with a single through the infield. He advanced on a passed ball and moved to third off an Eassie Miller bunt. He scored on a groundout from Kellen Takamura to tie the game 2-2.

Kaneshiro kept the offense going with a shot into shallow right field. He advanced on a passed ball before Gabriel Laloulu reached on a single. He popped the ball up to center field, but the umpire partially blocked the second baseman from getting to it. A shaky play on a ground ball to Beranek nearly gave Maui all it needed to tie. Despite a strong effort from Magno to reach first, he was a split-second late.

Beranek opened the Henderson sixth with a walk and advanced on a bunt to third from Caleb Gomez. A passed ball got him to third. Russell McGee walked and stole second. Wyatt Erickson fought off three pitches with two strikes before getting hit by a pitch. Pacheco then struck out Wyatt Johnson swinging for the second out.

Pacheco fell behind 3-0 to Noah Letalu before recording his first strike, then walked him to force in Bernaek with the go-ahead run.

“I think they’re a talented team and they’re well-coached and we know through the history of this tournament, they’ve been able to be really dominate teams,” Johnson said. “Honestly our styles of play mirror each other — where they bunt, we bunt. I think our games complement each other and we felt it’d be a low-scoring game where we were going to have to play good defense and rely on good pitching and Gunner was outstanding.”

Henderson, Nev. 3, Central East Maui 2

Henderson, Nev. 010 011 — 3 5 1

Central East Maui 000 110 — 2 9 2

Gunnar Guadin and Parkder Soranaka; Cam Kaneshiro, Gauge Pacheco (3) and Matthew Yang.

W—Guadin. L—Pacheco.

Leading hitters: Henderson, Nev.—Wyatt Erickson 1-2, 2B. Central East Maui—Brextyn Kamaha’o Yang 1-2, 2B, RBI.

Records: Henderson, Nev. 3-0. Central East Maui 2-1.

Next: Newtown, Pa. vs. Central East Maui at Lamade Stadium, 9 a.m. today.