Hawaii wins Little League World Series

For a week and a half at the Little League World Series, no team came close to Hawaii. The championship Sunday was no different.

Hawaii got back-to-back homers from Kekoa Payanal and Kama Angell in the first inning, sparking a 13-3 win in just four innings over Curacao.

The LLWS title is Hawaii’s fourth. It won in 2018 and this same Honolulu team finished third last year, when COVID-19 travel restrictions prevented international teams from participating.

How good was Hawaii? In six games, all victories, the closest margin was four runs. Hawaii outscored opponents 60-5.

Curacao sits at one title, which came back in 2004. But the team from a small Caribbean island with a population about the size of Springfield, Massachusetts, made it to the final in 2019 as well as this year.

After the trophy presentation and news conference were over, and most fans were gone, the Hawaii players celebrated their title in just the way a bunch of 10-to-12-year-old boys would. They went sliding on cardboard sheets down the big hill behind Lamade Stadium.



Members of the Honolulu Little League team celebrate their win against Curacao in the Little League World Series Championship baseball game in South Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022. Honolulu won 13-3. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar)