But that's all the team from 'Ewa Beach needed today to move on in the Little League World Series.

Sheyne Baniaga's two-run homer in the fourth inning onto the hill beyond the left-field wall was the only hit for West O'ahu in its 2-0 win over Lafayette, La., tonight.

West O'ahu (4-0) will play another undefeated team, Rancho Buena Vista of Vista, Calif., in the U.S. championship game on Saturday.

The game will be broadcast live at 9:30 a.m. Hawai'i time on ABC.

In the early game today, Christopher Garia allowed two hits and Willemstad, Curacao, the defending champs, scored 11 runs in the fifth inning to rout Mangilao-Barrigado, Guam, 16-1 to advance to the international championship game against Japan.

For West O'ahu, Baniaga's homer was enough for starter Kini Enos, who struck out eight and scattered five hits over five innings.

The homer off a 1-1 fastball from Lafayette starter Jace Conrad sent fans sitting on blankets and beach chairs on the left-field hill scurrying for the souvenir. Baniaga was greeted by happy teammates with pats on the helmet at home plate and chants of "Whoop, there it is!" from Hawaii fans.

"Timely hitting has been our nemesis in this tournament," Lafayette manager Mike Conrad said. He added the pitch was the last fastball that he planned to call against Baniaga in that at-bat.

Enos said he greeted Baniaga with a high-five in the dugout after his blast. "I was relieved when he hit that home run," Enos said with a small grin.

The shot spoiled an otherwise fine pitching performance from Conrad, who held the big boppers from West O'ahu hitless for the first three innings. Hawai'i entered the contest batting .333, with eight home runs in the first three games in South Williamsport.

Lafayette (2-2) threatened in the top of the third after Jace's brother, Brenn, reached on a fielder's choice and Sam Scofield doubled to put runners on second and third.

But Enos got Jace Conrad to bounce out to first base on the next pitch.

Lefty Quentin Guevara relived Enos in the sixth and final inning and got Connor Toups to ground out to second to end the game and eliminate Lafayette.

West O'ahu manager Layton Aliviado said the first order of business after the game, which ended around 9:30 p.m., was dinner.

"I told them, let's have some fun, have some pizza. Let's go eat," he said with a smile.

Earlier today, Curacao put on a hitting display that would make native son Andruw Jones proud.

The defending champs from the Pabao Little League sent 15 batters to the plate in the top of the fifth to seal the victory. The game ended after Guam hit in the bottom of the inning because of the 10-run mercy rule, and Guam was eliminated.

Christopher Garia struck out seven and didn't allow a hit until Alomar Rdialul doubled to the right-field corner in the fifth inning. Garia was lifted for a reliever three batters later.

"The kids felt the pressure of playing against the defending world champions and finally hit the wall in the fifth inning," Guam manager Shon Muna said.

Jones, the Atlanta Braves slugger, is from Willemstad and the Curacao team tries to watch Braves games in between practices. Jones is hitting .272 with 40 homers this season.

"He's my idol," Curacao outfielder Sherman La Crus said softly after the game through an interpreter. La Crus wears the same number as Jones, No. 25, and had two of Curacao's 13 hits.

He did a good interpretation of his idol at the plate, too, hitting a home run in the third that landed near the light pole beyond the left-field fence and doubling in the fifth inning.

After just beating the throw home on an Alexander Rodriguez single, La Crus jumped up, slapped his hands and swaggered back to the dugout.

Curacao was hitting .182 for the tournament coming into Thursday's game and had just four hits over its previous two outings. They face a tough task on Saturday against Japan, which beat Curacao 9-0 earlier in the tournament.

Curacao manager Vernon Isabella said he had his team take batting practice against live pitching over the last couple days, rather than taking swings in the batting cage.