ONTARIO - Hilo Little League rubbed a lot of people the wrong way during the eight-day Senior Division Western Regional Tournament at Jay Littleton Field, but Hawaii on Tuesday proved emphatically that it was the best team, easily defeating Manhattan Beach, 9-1, in the championship game to earn its spot in the World Series in Bangor, Maine.
Hawaii outplayed and outcoached Manhattan Beach throughout a game that was never in doubt. Kodi Medeiros was outstanding on the mound for Hilo, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing just one unearned run on three hits and striking out six.
The only thing that got in Medeiros' way was the 95-pitch count. Medeiros was pulled by Hawaii manager Kaha Wong after racking up 94 pitches.
Quintin Torres-Costa came in to close out the game, and the championship, and the hard-throwing lefty didn't disappoint.
Much of the week was focused on nonbaseball drama, with the Hawaii team that celebrated raucously in its emotional victory over Rocklin on Saturday night and a run-in between coaches last night in the game against Chino.
But an emotional Wong said after the game Tuesday that all the accountability lies with him.
"We're proud of what we accomplished on the field," Wong said, "but we overreacted against Rocklin and did things against Chino that should have never happened, and it's not something we condone.
"I am the manager, so I take responsibility for this. If we come back, we're going to make sure this never happens again, because we don't want Hawaii represented like this."
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http://www.sbsun.com/sports/ci_18648433#ixzz1UdfxeDAl
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