SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. >> After striking out his 15th batter to end the game, Hawaii’s Aukai Kea pumped his fists and let out a shout for all to hear.

Within seconds, Kea’s teammates sprinted to the pitcher’s mound to congratulate their team’s ace, hugging and pounding on him. Hawaii shut out Georgia 3-0 and Kea’s complete game sealed its berth in the Little League World Series championship.

“I just pitched my heart out,” Kea said. “Did as best I could.”

About 60 feet away, the Hawaii faithful chanted “Hon-o-lulu!” in the stands over the first-base dugout. As his home state dealt with record rainfall from Tropical Storm Lane, Kea took full note of the fans’ energy.

“When I was on the mound, I could hear them and I was like, ‘That’s why we’re here. That’s who we’re playing for. We’re playing for home, playing for Hawaii,’ ” Kea said.

After claiming the U.S championship, Hawaii will face South Korea — which beat Japan 2-1 to win the International championship — at 9 a.m. today in the LLWS championship. The game will be shown live on KITV.

The Honolulu team won the United States championship thanks to Kea’s dominant performance. He struck out 15 and didn’t allow a runner past first base. Kea and Georgia pitcher Connor Riggs-Soper were locked in a pitcher’s duel before the local kids broke through for one run in the fourth on a two-out single by pinch hitter John De la Cruz that plated Hunter Nishina.

“We always talk about how it’s ‘We over Me,’ and he did what we needed to score a run,” catcher Bruce Boucher said, referencing the slogan that appeared on the back of the Honolulu team’s jerseys during its run to South Williamsport.

Hawaii added two runs in the sixth on a triple by Boucher that scored Sean Yamaguchi, who had been issued an intentional pass with two outs. Boucher scored the third run on a single by Jace Souza.

“This group is great,” Kea said. “We always played against each other, but this season we came together, we just meshed. We just meshed like that. We just have a lot of fun.”

Nobody has more fun than Yamaguchi. The second baseman has become the spokesman for this team, the go-to guy for a quote, and he didn’t disappoint during the postgame interviews.

“We’re not a team, we’re a family,” Yamaguchi said. “We always stick together and we play as hard as we can. We’re looking forward to seeing all the fans and stuff. All we wanted to see back home was all that mountain and the people on the mountain.”

Hawaii’s pitching has been dominant the entire series. Of Hawaii’s four wins, three are by shutout, including two over Georgia, a team that didn’t score a run in 17 innings vs. the Honolulu pitchers. Hawaii’s team ERA is a stellar 0.43. Korea counters with a team ERA of 0.48 in its four wins on the International side of the bracket. Both teams are undefeated entering today’s championship affair.

“(Kea) was better than I’ve ever seen him,” Georgia manager Patrick Gloriod said. “The kid has a split-finger (pitch) that’s just nasty and he kept us off balance.”

Georgia got its leadoff runner on in the second on a sharp single to left by Chase Fralick. Kea picked up his fourth strikeout and then watched a nifty around-the-horn double play turned by third baseman Ka’olu Holt to Yamaguchi at second and on to Mana Lau Kong at first to end the top half of the second.

Hawaii finally broke through with a run in the fourth, despite the first two batters striking out. Pinch hitter Nishina hit a bloop fly ball to the left side of the Georgia infield that shortstop Tai Peete and third baseman Jack Ryan couldn’t locate, which Nishina hustled into a double.

Nishina came around to score on De la Cruz’s single that skipped off the glove of Willis Maginnis and into right to make it 1-0. Pinch hitter Zachary Won launched a bomb to center that Bo Walker somehow tracked down to end the inning, but Kea had all that he would need.

“I am very proud of this team and our kids have really enjoyed this moment, this time,” manager Gerald Oda said. “This is for everyone back home.”