US championship game postponed

Unfavorable weather caused play at the Junior League Baseball World Series to be postponed.

At the time of stoppage, Kawaihau Community Little League led Padre LL of Texas, 3-0, in the first inning of the United States championship game.

However, the score will be reset to 0-0 when both teams resume because the inning wasn’t completed, said Kawaihau head coach Justin Malina.

“Texas played the trump card perfectly,” Malina said in a phone interview Saturday. “Every time a little rain came in, he called his kids in. So, I couldn’t get the last out. … Then rain just dumped — just dumped.”

Malina was disappointed but added: “It is what it is. It’s rules. You can’t control the rules, and you can’t control Mother Nature. It’s just out of our hands.”

The U.S. final is set to resume at 9 a.m. EDT today in Taylor, Mich. (3 p.m. HST). Kawaihau represents the U.S. West region, and Padre LL represents the U.S. Southwest region.

The winner will face Shing-Ming Junior LL of Chinese Taipei in the Junior League Baseball World Series championship final. That final match between the U.S. and international winners is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT today (7 a.m. HST) and will be televised on ESPN.

Malina is hopeful games will be played out today, but isn’t optimistic.

“It will be a long day. The thing that gets me is that I don’t think the field is going to be ready. It’s just my opinion,” Malina said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. But like I said, it’s out of my control. They’re still expecting rain tomorrow. So, it is what it is. What can you do. … Just tell the people thank you, and pray for good weather tomorrow.”

Shing-Ming Junior LL, representing the Asia-Pacific region, defeated Guadalupe Linda Vista LL of Mexico, 6-2, on Saturday.

– Information from Little League Baseball World Series was added to this story.