South Williamsport, Pa. – With the game tied in extra innings, a tiring reliever on the mound and the Little League World Series championship on the line, Michael Memea had a simple plan: make contact.
West Oahu of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, already had completed a stunning comeback Sunday over the defending champions from Willemstad, Curacao, scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game.
Now here was Memea at the plate in the bottom of the seventh with nobody on and nobody out.
Memea lined a pitch over the center-field wall to give Hawaii a 7-6 win, the first game- ending home run in a Little League championship game.
“I knew it was gone,” Memea said afterward.
After the homer, Memea rounded third with his right hand held high and barreled toward jubilant teammates waiting for him at the plate. Later, he and his teammates took the traditional victory jog around the Lamade Stadium warning track, drawing cheers from fans.
Manager Layton Aliviado planned to give his team some time to unwind before the flight back to Hawaii today. West Oahu is the first team from Hawaii to win a Little League World Series title.
“Today, I’m real happy. Our dream came true,” he said with the winner’s plaque sitting on his lap. “You guys can jump in the pool if you’d like.”
Before their sixth-inning rally – sending the title game to extra innings for just the second time – Aliviado said he told his team: “If you guys want it, let’s go get it.”
The Curacao team from the Pabao Little League was trying to become the first repeat winners in South Williamsport since Long Beach, Calif., won back-to-back titles in 1992-93.
