Williamsport, Pa.>> It appeared to be clicking on all cylinders for the Honolulu boys as they took on Michigan in the nightcap of the 2021 Little League World Series on Wednesday.

The game featured a lot of hard-hit balls, but the defense for Honolulu proved to be the separator. Ryan Keanu opened by retiring 14 consecutive hitters that included a leaping catch at second from Zack Bagoyo as Honolulu defeated Michigan 2-0.

Bagoyo made a second crowd pleaser with a fully extended grab in the fourth inning.

“The first one I thought was going to come straight at me, but I realized I had to jump for it,” Bagoyo said. “The second one wasn’t as tough, but I still had to go up and get it.”

Honolulu advances to face the winner of Michigan and Texas, which will play today at 3 p.m. on ESPN. The winner will play Honolulu in the bracket championship Saturday at Lamade Stadium.

“Whenever I see my defense make plays it gets me excited,” Keanu said. “Zack’s catch twice was just outstanding.”

Keanu had the defense backing him throughout the contest as he retired the first 14 batters he faced. That run stretched through the fifth until Chauncey Adkins drove a ball into right field for Michigan’s first hit of the night.

“He threw a gem of a game there’s no doubt about that,” Michigan manager Rick Thorning said. “60 total pitches. He did an amazing job, but we barreled it up. He only had three strikeouts.”

That was what made the day so good for Honolulu, which showed it was one of the more complete teams in the tournament.

“This far in the tournament, any team we face is going to be a good team,” Honolulu manager Brandon Sardinha said. “We just have to prepare our best for any of those teams.”

Michigan turned to Ethan Van Belle as it attempted to knockoff one of the best offenses in the Little League World Series.

Honolulu has scored runs in bunches.

That trend didn’t continue, but Honolulu did draw first blood with a run each in the first and second innings.

“Our defense and our hitting are coming along,” Sardinha said. “They did awesome today. The defense really helped out Ryan today. He was throwing a great game and hitting his spots. It’s a tough team that Michigan team. They hit the ball hard.”

Van Belle would later move to catcher and give Cameron Thorning a crack at Hawaii’s lineup.

Thorning ran into trouble in the fifth inning when a dropped third strike and hit batter put a runner into scoring position without an out. Michigan challenged the hit batter as the ball appeared to the handle of the bat. The play was upheld and both runners advanced on the next pitch, which was mishandled by Van Belle.

With runners at second and third, Honolulu’s two, three, and four hitters approached the plate. Thorning was able to record a strikeout against Kaikea Patoc-Young. His third strikeout of the inning was to Chase Thompson, who bit on a high fastball.

Keanu represented the biggest out. With a free base at first, Michigan elected to go at Keanu and won as Thorning recorded his third consecutive strikeout to end the inning.

It wasn’t until the fourth inning that Michigan got to see Keanu for a second time as it attempted to get any type of offense going.

Lucas Farner got the first crack at Keanu, grounding out to short. Ulin followed and was stopped when Bagoyo made a second leaping catch at second. Not to be outdone by his teammate, Patoc-Young snagged a ball headed over the fence in center with a jumping catch to save a home run.

“We barreled the ball up plenty of times, but he pitched an amazing game,” Rick Thorning said. “I’ve watched Hawaii play in plenty of tournaments and they are a good team. They are beatable, but boy are they fun to play against.”

Max Laforest added his own defensive gem when he robbed pinch-hitter Patrick Murray of a base hit. Murray, who has two pinch-hit singles in two games, lined a slicing ball down the right field line that appeared to be headed for an extra-base hit. LaForest reacted quickly and snagged the ball before it could get to the outfield.

Patoc-Young hit a double with one out in the first inning. Patoc-Young, who has pitched for Honolulu in the tournament, didn’t have to wait long on second as he scored on a wild pitch. Keanu walked in the inning as it appeared Michigan wouldn’t chance pitching to him early.

Eli lopa opened the second inning and became Honolulu’s second run when Bagoyo chipped a ball through the infield. It looked like the start of the big inning, but Van Belle found his groove and retired the final two batters with strikeouts.

“I do what I have to do,” Bagoyo said. “I knew what my job was. It was great baserunning by my teammates too.”

Van Belle found something at the end of the second as he forced two groundouts, including one from Keanu, and a strikeout to end the third inning without giving up a run.