Hawaii Team Wins 2022 Little League World Series for Fourth Time: 'Best Time I Had in My Life'
Joshua Bessex/Getty The team from Hawaii celebrates their win
A young baseball team from Hawaii has hit another home run.
As the week-and-a-half long Little League World Series came to a close Sunday in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the team from Honolulu walked away the champions for the fourth time, The Associated Press reported.
The team, representing the West region, won the matchup against a team from Curaçao in just four innings, finishing with 13 runs to their opponents' 3. The outlet said that Little League rules dictate that if a team is leading by 10 runs or more after four innings, they win the game.
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The AP explained that in all victories of the team's six games in the tournament, the closest margin was four runs and that the team outscored opponents 60-5.
Joshua Bessex/Getty Little League team from Hawaii
One of the team's starters, Jaron Lancaster, threw all of the game's four innings and struck out 10 of Curaçao's hitters, the AP said.
Curaçao, who previously made it to the final in 2005 and 2019, represented the Caribbean region. The team last won the World Series in 2004.
"I knew Curacao was going to be a great team,'' Lancastor told the AP. "My mindset was to go out there, do my best and do my thing. I know my offense and defense got my back.''
The Little League Baseball World series celebrated its 75th anniversary this year, CBS Sports reported, and included international participants for the first time since 2019. The tournament was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and only allowed American teams to participate the following year.
Joshua Bessex/Getty Little League champions
In a video posted to Twitter by the Little League, the West region team joyfully celebrated following the game-wining point. After a player sent a ball into left field, another player was able to round third and slide into home, securing the team's victory.
"I saw the ball go down and I saw coach sending in Ruston (Hiyoto)," Kama Angell, who hit the game's final ball, told the AP. "I was very emotional. It was the best time I had in my life."
The group of young athletes ran toward each other and piled up in excitement, later posing with a banner that read "World Series Champions."
"A picture that's going to hang on their walls forever," a commentator said in a voice-over.
