Homer lifts Waipi'o, 3-2

By Matt Traub
Special to The Advertiser

Waipi'o's Travis Jones (24) is greeted by teammates after he hit the game-winning homer against Worcester, Mass., in the bottom of the sixth inning. Galen A. Lentz • Special to The Advertiser

Northwest champions Waipi'o had taken a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning, only to give up the lead quickly to the New England champions from Worcester, Mass. With both pitchers mowing down the order, many were expecting extra innings.

Enter Travis Jones.

Jones hit an 0-2 fastball from Frank Flynn that skipped off and over the left-field fence, giving Waipi'o a 3-2 win in the opener of the Little League World Series for 11- and 12-year-olds.

"I was just looking for a pitch to hit," said Jones, a little shy after the first home run that he had ever hit.

"I was ecstatic," manager Clyde Tanabe said. "Travis has been doing that all year long. He always steps up and has good games in the big games."

Waipi'o, which advanced to Williamsport by beating Idaho in a regional Monday with a four-run rally in its final at-bat, has today off before playing tomorrow against the Southwest representative, Westside Little League of Fort Worth, Texas. The game is 9 a.m. and will be televised on ESPN.

Waipi'o, the first team from Hawai'i to advance to the World Series in Williamsport since 1988, will complete its pool play against Webb City, Mo., Monday. The top two teams in each of the four four-team pools advance.

The game, played in front of a packed house of 5,000 people, featured two outstanding pitching performances from Hawai'i's Kurt Tanabe and Worcester's 6-foot, 206-pound Flynn.

Tanabe gave up three hits, two of them in the fifth inning, while striking out 12 batters and walking just six.

Flynn, meanwhile, retired the first nine batters he faced and ended up allowing four hits, striking out 12.

Tanabe said that Flynn's performance actually helped him when he went out on the mound.

"When someone is throwing a gem, you have to be focused," Tanabe said.

"You don't want to give up any runs, because it would put your team in a bigger hole."

Worcester made the first threat, starting a rally in the top of the third inning. Tanabe walked Ben Landers and Joe Petry, then Andy Fallon popped out to Jones on a sacrifice bunt.

Gordie Lockbaum struck out, then with Flynn batting, one of Tanabe's pitches got past Jones and to the backstop.

Micah Golshirazion, running for Landers, tried to score on the passed ball from second base, but Tanabe covered home and got the throw from Jones in time to put the tag down and end the threat.

Tanabe then struck for the first hit off of Flynn leading off the bottom of the fourth inning — and what a hit it was.

He smoked a 1-2 pitch over the center field wall, hitting the base of ESPN2's TV tower.

"I got lucky," he said.

The rally continued when Isaac Moises singled to right field and went to second on Jones' grounder, which was thrown away by Lockbaum. Cory Yuh, with one out, then singled up the middle, driving in Moises for a 2-0 lead.

Worcester rallied in its next at-bat against Tanabe. One-out walks were issued to Landers and Kurt Sabacinski, then after Tanabe struck out Fallon, Lockbaum doubled in Landers.

Flynn was walked intentionally to load the bases, then Keith Landers' hit bounced over Tanabe's head for an infield single, scoring Sabacinski and tying the game at 2.

That just set the stage for Jones, whose liner tipped off the top of the left-center field fence, momentarily stunning the crowd and himself — Jones sprinted to second before realizing it was a home run, then was able to sail home before he was mobbed by teammates.

It also prevented a pitching change — Clyde Tanabe said that if the game had gone extra innings, he would have pulled his son and put Yuh on the mound.

Waipi'o might have to play without shortstop Kelsey Outram, who was hit on the hand while batting in the bottom of the second inning, forcing him to leave the game.

"It's bruised and doesn't look real good," Clyde Tanabe said. "We're going to X-ray, and that would be a huge loss if he can't play."

Worcester 000 020 — 2 3 1
Waipi'o 000 201 — 3 4 0

Frank Flynn and Ryan Griffin; Kurt Tanabe and Travis Jones. W—Tanabe; L—Flynn.

Waipi'o's leading hitters: Tanabe HR; Jones HR.

Colleen Sagon (left), Shari Outram (center) and Flora Kobayashi cheer on Waipi'o during their game against New England. Galen A. Lentz • Special to The Advertiser		Susan Goya (left), mother of left fielder Alex Goya, engages in a Little League tradition of pin trading with Fatima Mayorga of Monterey, N.L. Mexico. Ralph Wilson • Special to The Advertiser
Travis Jones is greeted at the plate by his teammates after hitting a game winning home run in the bottom of the sixth. Ralph Wilson • Special to The Advertiser