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Evan Tavares lifts Hawaii to 5-0 win over Illinois on Friday at Lamade Stadium

By Chris Masse 4 min read

A closer look at 5-0 Maui, Waikulu, Hawaii win over Hinsdale, Illinois, Friday at Lamade Stadium Stadium.

PLAY OF THE GAME -- Evan Tavares inning-ending, first-inning strikeout: There were just six combined hits in this game and Tavares is one of the country's top Little League pitchers, so Illinois being turned away in the first inning provided a crucial turning point. Fred Sackley led the game off with a walk before Kellan Goodwin singled, but Tavares retired the next three batters, the final two via strikeout. If Illinois had scored there, the game's trajectory could have been much different. Instead, Tavares was untouchable from there and retired the next 15 batters.

HAWAII PLAYER OF THE GAME --Evan Tavares: The left-hander continued his dominant all-star season, throwing five shutout innings while improving to 2-0 at the Series. Tavares allowed just two hits and struck out nine. He came up big in the first inning, retiring three straight after the first two batters reached base and stranding runners on second and third. Tavares remarkably has not allowed an earned run in 35 2/3 innings this all-star season and is up to 89 strikeouts, including 15 at the Series. He also has won each of Hawaii's last three games going back to regionals.

ILLINOIS PLAYER OF THE GAME --Kellan Goodwin: The center fielder made his first Series game a memorable one, going 2 for 2. Tavares has allowed just 12 hits in 35 1/3 innings this summer, highlighting how impressive that is.

BIG INNING--Hawaii third: Any time Tavares is pitching, runs are hard to come by. That made Hawaii scoring three in the in third while taking a 4-0 lead so big. The West champions generated just one hit that inning, a Matthew Yang single, but drew four walks and used plate approaches to do damage. Jet Pontes drew an RBI walk and two more runs scored on an error. Yang went 2 for 2 and also was in the middle of a fifth inning rally, ripping his second single as Hawaii went ahead, 5-0.

BEST EFFORT--Hawaii's lower order production: Hawaii has produced throughout the order all summer and the Nos. 8-12 hitters were especially strong Friday. Gabriel Laloulu, Kolten Magno, Matthew Yang, Kamalei Leynes-Santos and Jet Pontes reached base in nine out of 10 plate appearances. Laloulu scored twice and Leynes-Santos and Pontes both had RBIs.

FLASHING LEATHER--Illinois first baseman Jimmy Macri immediately made a defensive impact when he produced the first out in the bottom of the first. Macri quickly moved to his left, stuck his glove up high and snared a Gauge Pacheco liner, robbing of a lead-off double. Three batters later, Michael Kipnis hit a game-tying single in the bottom of the sixth against Indiana in the Great Lakes final and showed off his defensive skills later in the first inning when he threw out a runner trying to advance from first to third for the inning's second out. Tavares collected most of his outs via strikeout, but showed his quick reflexes in the fourth inning, sprinting off the mound and quickly retrieving a Dane Graham III bunt before firing to first and beating him by a step. Hawaii center fielder Cam Kaneshiro stuck with a tricky line drive in the fifth inning, going to a knee and catching a hard line drive off the bat of Jimmy Macri.

WHAT THE ADULTS SAY--"Even that last inning, even though it's 5-0, you look up and it doesn't get any better than this. We're going to try and go out on the field Sunday with that same attitude," Illinois manager Chad Wanless said. "You're playing a game you love with you're best friends. Let's go out and have some fun."

"It was huge (playing second game). The two wins help them gain more confidence, especially in the batter's box," Hawaii manager Daniel Bolduc said. "If we can fix that area, we'll be tough to beat. We just have to hit the ball harder more."

WHAT THE KIDS SAY--"I got pretty mad in that (first inning) moment, so that's when I started throwing harder," Tavares said. "When I get mad I usually throw harder and throw strikes. So that's pretty much me locking in."

WHAT IT MEANS--Hawaii improves to 2-0 at the Series and will play Nevada in Monday's winner's bracket semifinals. The winner of that contest advances to Wednesday's winner's bracket final and would be a victory from the U.S. Championship. Illinois had not played in nine days prior to Friday's game. It will have a quicker turnaround this time, facing the winner of Saturday's South Dakota-New York game Sunday at 9 a.m.

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