The Central Maui Little League team defeated Southern California 2-1 on Friday night for the right to advance to the Little League World Series on Aug. 14 in Williamsport, Virginia. Courtesy photo

WAILUKU – The Central East Maui Little League team is heading to Williamsport, Pennsylvania to compete for the Little League World Series.

The team earned their hard fought right to advance to the biggest little league stage in the world Friday night in San Bernardino, California when they edged Southern California 2-1 to win the West Regional Tournament, officially punching their ticket to Williamsport after finishing the West Regional 3-1.

The Central East team defeated Northern California 2-0 on Aug. 4, before falling to Southern California 11-3 on Aug. 6. Rallying, the Central East Maui squad went on a two-game winning streak, defeating Arizona 13-9 on Aug. 7 before winning 2-1 in a rematch with Southern California on Friday night.

The second game with Southern California was a defensive struggle as Evan Tavares had a 1-0 lead to start his day on the mound in the bottom of the first. Tavares started of the scoring in the top of the 1st inning after a wild pitch from Southern California pitcher Gavin Cruz to Hayden Takahashi missed the mark with runners on 1st and 3rd bases. It sent Tavares scampering across the plate to start the game and give himself a lead to work with on the mound.

Southern California tied it up in the bottom of the 2nd inning at one a piece. A defensive struggle ensued through the middle innings as Central East Maui took the 2-1 lead in the top of the 5th inning and never looked back.

Tavares helped his own cause in the bottom of the 5th, getting on first after an error and eventually finding his way across home plate for the decisive run.

With the game on the line in the bottom of the 6th inning with a 2-1 lead, Tavares finished the tournament and inning with a groundout, strikeout, and groundout to send Central East Maui on to the Little League World Series which starts on Aug. 14.

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