The first thing out of Gerald Oda’s mouth during Wednesday night’s phone call was, “How are things back home?”

The manager for the Honolulu team that had just advanced to the United States championship game of the Little League World Series didn’t wait for any congratulations. There were no questions or even a how are you doing after plastering Mid Island of Staten Island, N.Y., on Wednesday night in South Williamsport, Pa., in an easy-as-it-looked 10-0 mercy rule win over a team that hadn’t lost in 15 games and had won those by a combined score of 158-20.

Make that 158-30.

“We heard these guys hadn’t lost in two years,” Oda said after being assured Hurricane Lane hadn’t come waltzing down the streets just yet. After doing some calculating, it appears the hurricane could be brushing up against Oahu about the same time these Hawaii kids play their fourth game in the series against a team they’ve already beaten.

Today Georgia and New York will play for the right to face Hawaii at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, when electricity and basic communications could be hard to come by back home.

“That’s what we kept telling our kids,” Oda said. “Everyone back home has done so much to support us, now it’s our turn to do something for them. If we can make everybody forget about life for a couple of hours, give them something to cheer about … That’s what we’re trying to do.”

And the Hawaii lads have done it well, winning three games by a combined score of 20-3 against some of the best 12- and 13-year olds in the country. Only Hawaii, and South Korea in the International bracket, are 3-0 among the 16 teams that descended upon this sleepy little town in central Pennsylvania earlier this week.

Also on Saturday, South Korea will face the winner of the Japan-Panama game to be the International champion in Sunday’s final.

Honolulu moved into the United States championship game with a decisive 10-0 win over a talented New York team in a game plagued by rain in the late innings. The West Region champions won’t play again until the weekend and will face a motivated winner of the Southeast Regional-Mid Atlantic matchup set for today. Hawaii beat Georgia 2-0 on Monday in an 11-inning marathon that ended with a walk-off homer by Aukai Kea and then pasted a mercy-rule massacre against a team that doesn’t know much about losing.

As for Wednesday’s surprisingly easy win, Hawaii can thank the big bat of Sean Yamaguchi, who blasted a grand slam in the second, and the strong arm of winning pitcher Kea, who looked sharp from the beginning. He retired the side in the first on only seven pitches that included two strikeouts. He finished with six Ks and no walks.

Kea also drove in the eighth run with a sacrifice fly to right and scored the 10th run on a wild pitch. Kea didn’t give up a hit until a single with one out in the fourth. He was lifted with one out in the fifth because of reaching the 50-pitch limit. He can pitch again on Saturday if needed.

Hawaii put pressure on Staten Island losing pitcher Chris Bedford from the start, turning a throwing error by New York second baseman Gregory Bruno and a couple of hit batters into a pair of runs in the first inning. Kea got on base with a sharp single and came around to score on the errant throw by Bruno, who first booted the grounder hit by Jace Souza, then compounded the problem with a bad throw to first.

Yamaguchi scored the second run of the game on a hit batter with the bases loaded and then blasted a grand slam just over the wall in left that keyed a five-run second to give Honolulu a commanding 7-0 lead after two. The fifth run of the inning came around on a bloop double down the right-field line by Corey Chu that scored Souza. Yamaguchi also plated another run in the third with a single to left. It was his third hit of the game to make it 9-0.

“Sean and Aukai had good games for us,” Oda said. “The kids are relaxed and enjoying themselves. They aren’t putting any extra pressure on themselves. They’re having fun playing baseball. And they’re thinking about their loved ones back home. We all are. And we’re hoping and praying for the best.”