Major Little League World Series semifinals Saturday

Maybe Hawaii can show the way to a Major Little League Baseball World Series championship for the other three teams in the Final Four that will be played Saturday.

The youngsters from Honolulu have won twice in the last five finals, the last coming in 2015 and followed by a loss in the title game to Louisiana in 2018. You can add in some more championships for the Island kids, but nothing for Michigan, Ohio and South Dakota.

Not only have these three never held the championship trophy, but it will be a first time in the semifinals for Ohio and South Dakota, while it will be the same for Michigan, which at least won its only title in 1959.

But that’s the way it shapes up for the Saturday doubleheader at Howard V. Lamade in South Williamsport, Pa., four good teams that have earned their way here for the 71st annual staging of the world’s finest, the biggest, and the longest of all youth tournaments, and no one else is close.

With the Hank Aaron and Tom Seaver Brackets added in recognition of their good will to the our national pastime, as well as both being in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the latest to pass away.

So in the opener scheduled for a 12:30 p.m. EST start on ABC, it’s once-beaten Hamilton Ohio of the West Side Little League facing undefeated Sioux Falls South Dakota of the South Little League.

In the 3:30 p.m. closer on EST and also on ABC, it will be unbeaten Hawaii versus once-beaten Michigan, which lost 2-0 to the Honolulu squad.  Before, all the games at this level were viewed on the ESPN channels.

Ohio, which nailed down the berth by stunning Southern California, 4-2, on Thursday, opened with a 1-0 triumph over Tennessee, but then came a 9-0 setback to Southern Cal followed by an impressive 8-2 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette, and holding off a late challenge in a 3-2 win over a good New Hampshire team, the New England Region champions supported by actor Adam Sandler who played in the only other Little League World Series for the state team.

In the masterful win over Southern California, Ohio broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the top of the sixth. But in the bottom half, the West Coast kids had two on with one out, but the pitcher got a short fly out to left followed by a longer ball caught by the center field. With the 9-0 defeat to Southern Cal, Ohio had scored 16 runs and allowed 15, but it is playing its best ball now.

Hamilton has gotten key hits from Chance Retherford, who is batting .333 with four RBI, and from Chase Noak’s .444 average and a pair of RBI. Retherford got the go-ahead double in the sixth inning.

South Dakota won all three games by shutouts behind the southpaw arm of Gavin Weir. He hurled back-to-back no-hitters with 12 strikeouts in each, and allowed only one hit in the other triumph in which he struck out 13. His team only scored six times in the three outings, but when he’s on the mound, get him a run and he’s in charge with a mixture of breaking pitches, some change ups, and a blazing fastball that finds corners.

The South Dakota wins were 2-0 over Louisiana, 3-0 over Oregon, and 1-0 over Southern California, so two straight losses made for a disappointing trip home.

And for the untouchable Sioux Falls gang, it came to six runs scored and none given up. Noah Kuenzi is batting .429 with the team’s two RBI, and Weir, who has the team’s lone home run, has fanned 29 in 11.2 innings pitched.

Now Hawaii has yielded only three earned runs and tallied 22 of its own in getting past Connecticut, 9-1, Nebraska 11-3, and Michigan 2-0. It plays very good defense in both the infield and outfield, fields a well-balanced lineup, and has two good hurlers in Ryan Keanu, who has whiffed 10 in 12 innings and carries a  0.50 earned run average.

It also has solid bats via Kekoa Payanal’s .625 average, and with two others batting over .500. There’s speed in the lineup and it does take the extra base.

It’s been a long time for Michigan, 52 years in fact, but this is a good ball club that mixes in solid hitting with quality fielding and some highlight pitching. It opened by shutting down Palm Beach Florida, 8-0, edged Texas West on a comeback in the sixth frame, 6-5, lost the tough one to Hawaii, and then  romped over Abilene Texas this time, 15-6.

Taylor North, just south of Detroit, is a fairly new league making its first appearance in the World Series.

It came away with 29 hits and was reached for 13. Its top pitcher has been Ethan Van Belle, who in six innings has struck out 10, and the big bats come from Cameron Thorning, manager Ricky Thorning’s son, Jackson Suram with a .469 average and four RBI, and the No. 1 reliever is Jakob Furkas, and he’s fanned three in six frames.

With no International foreign teams in this year’s tournament because of coronavirus pandemic issues, it still had 737 teams in play from the United States in 52 different regions. This includes all those from the ages of 10-16.

So these four teams have made it to the final days, with the Aaron-Seaver Bracket winners then going after the ultimate prize on Sunday.

Taiwan has won the most championships in the Major Little League, 17 from 1969-1991. Mexico, South Korea, and Venezuela have all won multiple times. Of the USA teams, California has the most titles, seven, and the Americans have won 37 of the 71 finals.