‘They have a lot to be proud of’

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- Jim Kelly is a math teacher by trade and a baseball coach on the side.

Judging by the reaction of his Paseo Verde Little League team of Henderson to Sunday night's heart-wrenching loss, Kelly is teaching his players more than how to hit the cut-off man.

Hawaii upset Paseo Verde 4-3 before 10,000 fans and a national television audience on ESPN2. The West Region title-game loss was about as disappointing as one can imagine for a group of preteen kids.

No Nevada team ever has made the World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

Instead it will be Waipio LL of the islands heading to Williamsport and not Nevada, which came in with a 5-0 record here in Southern California. But if there were any cross words uttered or equipment thrown, it wasn't audible or visible.

"I'm going to tell our kids to keep their heads up," Kelly said. "They have a lot to be proud of. These weren't kids we recruited or anything like that. They're just from the neighborhood, and they worked hard, and we had a great run, and we won a lot of stuff."

Trailing by one run in the sixth and final inning, Paseo Verde pitcher/slugger Michael Blasko came to the plate representing his team's last chance for a region title and a trip to the World Series.

Hawaii pitcher Tanner Tokunaga bent at the waist behind the mound and said a quick prayer. Then, with fans in San Bernardino and across the country watching, Tokunaga struck out Blasko swinging to end the game.

The Paseo Verde kids watched helplessly as the Hawaii players danced to the middle of the field and dissolved into a happy dog pile.

The broad-shouldered Blasko had allowed only four hits in five innings -- two of them home runs by Pikai Winchester -- and he had struck out 14 while walking two. He also hit a single.

After the game he wasn't even through, showing enough poise and class to comment on the game. Teammate Derek Clelan joined him.

"Overall, I think I did good, but they just had a good hitter (Winchester) who hit two home runs," Blasko said. "I threw him a couple of fastballs, and he hit them over the fence.

"But this whole thing was fantastic. We got to play on ESPN and in front of all these fans. It was like a dream."

Clelan, who had one of Nevada's five hits, agreed.

"It was a great experience," he said. "We got to play before the whole nation on TV. It was so great. Hawaii was a good team. We became friends with them here. They're cool."

The scrappy gamers from Hawaii were cool customers to start the game, scoring three off Blasko in the first inning, highlighted by Winchester's two-run home run over the left-field fence.

But burly Hawaii left-hander Khade Paris was feeling pain in his arm and was wild throughout his 60-pitch, 2 1/3-inning stint. Manager Timo Donahue lifted him with a runner on and one out in the third.

Paseo Verde immediately took advantage, getting a two-run home run by James Anderson and a long solo home run one batter later by Griffin Kelly.

Both homers came off reliever Tanner Tokunaga, a thin right-hander with average speed.

"I thought we'd knock him out," Jim Kelly said. "I told our kids to take a strike against him, but they kept swinging at curveballs in the dirt.

"(Hawaii) only scored four runs. We usually score more than that."

Tied 3-3, Nevada put runners on second and third with two out in the fourth. Josh McCollum hit a hard grounder to the right side, but Hawaii second baseman Kainoa Fong ranged to his left, barely gloved the ball with one hand and then whirled to throw out McCollum at first.

"That play saved two runs," Donahue said.

Hawaii scored what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the fourth. Winchester led off with a home run over the left-field fence, much to the delight of the Waipio throng along the third-base side.

"That felt good," Winchester said. "I felt good at the plate tonight."

Paseo Verde managed only one hit over the final two innings against the resurgent Tokunaga.

Anderson led Paseo Verde at the plate, with two hits and two runs batted in.

The Henderson team was only the fourth in West Region history to make the title game. The others were Green Valley LL of Las Vegas in 1983, 2001 and 2004.

"We came within one run of making the World Series," Kelly said. "That's something to be proud of."