SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Waipi'o's Little League team had strength aplenty in reserve last night.

The Hawai'i champions scored five runs in the top of the sixth, and last scheduled, inning to beat Southern California, 6-5, in the Little League Western Regional for 11- and 12-year-olds.

Jordan Stevens, who didn't start the game, doubled in two runs to give Waipi'o the lead, and Tyler Tokunaga recorded three outs in the bottom of the inning to earn the victory.

Waipi'o is 1-1 in pool play of the tournament, and meets Utah (0-1) tomorrow night and Northern California on Tuesday. The top four teams in the six-team pool advance to the semifinal round, and splitting two games against strong teams — Waipi'o lost to Arizona 1-0 on Friday — puts Waipi'o in a strong position to be one of the four teams.

Waipi'o sent 10 batters to the plate in the sixth inning last night. Dustyn Cook was hit by a pitch and Tokunaga walked. Marcus Yoshii singled to right to drive in Cook, and Tokunaga came around to score when the right fielder overran the ball.

After Ryan Reyes walked and the next batter struck out, Blake McCrea singled home Yoshii as Waipi'o closed to 5-4. Reid Akau walked before Stevens sliced a drive that bounced over the fence to score the tying and go-ahead runs.

"I was hoping to go to the opposite field," Stevens said. "I thought it might be a home run. We just hung in there and I had a lot of confidence even when we were down four runs in the last inning."

In addition to Stevens, reserves Nainoa Kaai had a double in the fifth and Chad Uyehara added a single, so reserves had three of Waipi'o's six hits.

"I have to start nine players, but I have confidence in all 14 players," said Waipi'o coach Timo Donahue, who saw his team get only two hits over the first 10 innings of the tournament. "I expected our team to hit better, and any time you score late it gives you a lift."

Southern California struck quickly in the first inning as the first two batters reached base and Kirby Shaw homered to center. Shaw and catcher Christian Lopez hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning to make it 5-1.

WAIPI'O 000 015—6 6 1

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 300 020—5 5 4

Nicholas Ogasawara, Reid Akau (2), Tyler Tokunaga (5) and Westin Fabro. Bretton Bowman, Anthony Losurdo (6), Cody Thompson (6) and Christian Lopez. W—Tokunaga (1-0). L—Losurdo (0-1).

Leading hitters: Waipi'o—Marcus Yoshii 2-3, RBI; Jordan Stevens double; Nainoa Kaai double. Southern California—Kirby Shaw 2-3, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs; Christian Lopez HR.