Maui’s remarkable run ends at Little League World Series

They came up short of their ultimate goal of a world championship, but the Central East Maui Little League All-Stars shared a summer they will likely never forget.

After a 4-3 loss in a final elimination game against Lake Mary, Fla., in the Little League World Series on Wednesday, the team finished the summer with a 15-4 mark — 4-0 at the District III (Maui County) tournament, 5-1 at the state tournament, 3-1 at the West Regional in San Bernardino, Calif., and 3-2 in Williamsport, Pa., at the LLWS.

The 13 players from Maui made up a team that was among the final eight standing in Williamsport and final four among the 10 regional champions from the U.S.

The team won six straight elimination games — three at state, two at the West Regional and one in Williamsport — until their remarkable run ended on Wednesday with the tying run on third base.

“These boys compete all the way to the end, to the last swing, this group of kids is unbelievable, never say die,” Maui manager Daniel Bolduc said via phone about 30 minutes after the final out. 

This team is just the second ever from Maui to advance this far in the traditional level of Little League for 10- to 12-year-olds, joining the 2019 group from Central East Maui Little League that lost in the U.S. championship game.

“I’m ecstatic for these kids, man, the experience here, this city, how they treat these boys, I mean, it’s just unbelievable,” Bolduc said. “Everybody here makes these kids feel like superstars. It’s crazy, signing autographs, and pictures and the town. I don’t know, it’s hard to even explain.”  

The team has 13 players, hailing from four different intermediate schools — six attend ‘Īao Intermediate, four go to Kamehameha Maui, two are from Maui Waena Intermediate, and one is from Lahaina.

The team includes Evan Tavares, Kolten Magno, Kanon Nakama, Kellen Takamura, Gauge Pacheco, Cam Kaneshiro, Eassie Miller, Jet Pontes, Matthew Yang, Brextyn Kamaha‘o Hong, Hayden Takahashi, Kamalei Leynes-Santos and Gabriel Laloulu.

Tavares was the ace pitcher who turned heads in Williamsport. He was 3-0 on the mound, did not allow an earned run in 13 1/3 innings pitched, allowed just five hits and struck out 28 of the 50 batters he faced.

Yang led Maui at the plate with a .556 batting average, while Tavares hit .500, Takahashi hit .444, Hong hit .375, while Pacheco and Kaneshiro each hit .333 in the World Series.

Tavares was especially effective on Tuesday when he struck out 12 in 5 2/3 innings in a 3-1 win over Newtown, Pa. Nakama got the final out to record the save in that game and had the only RBI for Maui in that win. 

Maui lost its first game at the LLWS 3-2 to Henderson, Nev., on Monday, despite a combined five-hitter on the mound from Kaneshiro and Pacheco.

On Wednesday, Maui fell behind 4-0 through three innings, but clawed back with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Pacheco was 2-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI at the plate in the finale. Laloulu led off the bottom of the sixth with a double, but was stranded at third base when the game ended.

Now, it’s back to reality for the boys. 

“They’ve got to go to school now,” Bolduc said. 

Like the 2019 Maui team, none of the coaches — Bolduc was assisted by Kevin Constantino and Ian Shimabuku — had children on the roster.

“We were along for the ride with these boys,” Bolduc said. “I’m glad they took us on this trip and made us feel like superstars, too. Everybody wanted to take a picture with us. High fives every day on the way in. This place is unbelievable, it’s magical.”

Takahashi started on the mound for the first time since the state tournament — he was limited to one pitch since then.

“The last thing you want is for any of these kids to have any regrets here, say they could have did this, or wish they would have did that,” Bolduc said. “I’m just super proud of him that he got out of his comfort zone and he did it.”

This team carried on a strong Maui youth baseball tradition that was epitomized by a co-state high school title for Maui and Baldwin high schools in May.

“We always preach to them, even now, before we came up here, grade checks, I want to see your fourth quarter grades, especially intermediate, you know?” Bolduc said. “Because it’s super important, right? No grades, no play in high school. They gotta be student-athletes, they have to be student-athletes. I think I maybe stress that too much with them, but they have got to understand that they have to get good grades. Without that, none of this is possible.”

Bolduc said that this group has built lifetime memories and should be proud of what they’ve done.

“They’re a little sad they lost, but I told them, ‘Don’t hang your heads, you guys are top four (in the nation), you guys battled to the end, there’s nothing to be ashamed of guys,’ ” Bolduc said. “ ‘You guys were unbelievable.’ ”

Bolduc runs an auto mechanic shop in Kahului and needs to get back to work. His oldest son Logan, 15, is a student at Baldwin and his youngest son, 10-year-old Jacob, was with him in Williamsport. Bolduc said he will personally never forget this experience.

“Oh man, it’s super hard to say goodbye,” he said. “I’m pretty sure we’ll have little get-togethers when we get back to Maui. We spent so much time with these kids and the families and now we’re one big family to me. It’s just awesome.”