Nevada takes down Hawai’i with late go-ahead run in Little League Baseball World Series

Central East Maui (HI) dropped the team’s first game of the 2024 Little League Baseball World Series on Monday, falling to Paseo Verde (NV), 3-2, in the semifinals of the United States winner bracket. A double-elimination tournament, Hawai’i drops into the quarterfinals of the reboot bracket with a chance to win their way back into a championship berth. 

Without the services of star left-handed pitcher Evan Tavares on the mound (rest – pitch count), the West Region representative turned to Cam Kaneshiro for the start and got two innings of one-run ball. Gauge Pacheco entered in relief and went four innings, walking four batters and striking out four batters while giving up two runs (one earned run) and getting charged with the loss. 

Hawai’i tied the game on two separate occasions before allowing a bases-loaded walk in the top of the 6th inning that provided the room Nevada needed to advance. Brextyn Kamaha’o Hong led the Central East Maui offense in the loss, going 1-for-2 with an RBI double that tied the game in the bottom of the 4th inning. Starting pitcher Cam Kaneshiro and centerfielder Evan Tavares both went 2-for-2 and added two singles each for Hawai’i.  

The West representatives return to action on Tuesday against Mid-Atlantic Region representative-Newtown (PA) Little League with first pitch scheduled for 9:00 a.m. HT. Newtown was a 12-2 winner over Northwest Region’s Puyallup (WA) in the reboot bracket on Sunday and sits at 2-1 after opening the tournament with a 9-0 loss against Southwest’s Boerne (TX) Little League.