It might be a long way from his Hawaiian home, but Norman “Junior” Maldonado called Curt Daniels Field at Propstra Stadium his favorite baseball venue.
It’s certainly been a magical place for teams he has managed.
On Wednesday, Maldonado’s Pearl City Little League team won the the championship of the Junior League Western Region Tournament, beating Manhattan Beach, Calif., 2-1 in 10 innings to earn a place in the Junior League Baseball World Series.
Junior League is the Little League division for players 14 and younger — the first Little League division to use a full-size diamond.
In 2001, Maldonado was manager for a team from Aiea, Hawaii, that won a Junior League regional at Propstra on the way to a World Series title.
Chaesten Chon’s hit with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning ended a game dominated by savvy pitching and solid defense. Chon delivered a single to right field that scored Rayson Carriaga from second base with the winning run.
“I was just trying to move the runner over so the next batter could get up,” Chon said. “It was a fastball outside, right where I wanted it.
“I was looking around and I saw (Carriaga) scoring and I was just so happy.”
With two outs and nobody aboard, Carriaga walked. He stole second on a 2-0 count to get into scoring position for Chon’s heroics. Carriaga scored both runs for Pearl City, each after drawing a walk.
“Our strength is defense and pitching. I thought we pitched well and we played pretty good defense today,” Maldonado said. “I tip my hat to that (Manhattan Beach) team. Awesome game. It’s a shame someone had to lose. Two winners in my eyes.”
Each team scored a run in the first inning, then the pitchers took over.
For Pearl City, starting pitcher Cade Halemanu allowed five hits in 7⅓ innings before reaching the 95-pitch maximum. Carter Hirano took over and allowed three base runners in 2⅔ innings on the mound.
For Manhattan Beach, starting pitcher Dylan Dennis allowed four hits in 6⅔ innings. Left-hander Evan Voss came on for the final out of the seventh inning with the potential winning run on second base. Voss worked out of trouble in the eighth and had gotten seven consecutive outs before Carriaga reached in the 10th.
Manhattan Beach had base runners in each of the 10 innings, but its only run came in the first when Chasen Ozawa was hit by a pitch and scored on a two-out single by Merrick Baldo.
Pearl City will open World Series play Sunday morning in Taylor, Mich.
Note — Cooper Sutherland of Manhattan Beach was awarded the Austin Wolford Memorial Award. Wolford. who drowned in July of 2014, played in local Little Leagues and was an athlete at Heritage High School. The award was presented at all tournaments hosted this summer by District 4, and was presented to individuals who displayed team spirit and concern for others.
