Mililani Homegrown relied on timely hitting and some small ball to win the Cal Ripken 12-U State Tournament on Saturday at Central Oahu Regional Park.

Homegrown fell behind in the first inning, scored all of its runs in the second, then held on for a 6-5 victory over the Mililani Astros in the tournament final.

“Very proud, brah,” Homegrown manager Chad Demello said. “Not too many people know we’re actually like a family team. We’re not an all-star team. We’ve been together like myself, Bear Arindain and his dad since he was 4 years old. We’ve had kids that have been with us since they were 6 years old, 7, 8, all the way up until now. We’re more than just a baseball team. We grew up together, some of our kids were raised together. It really means a lot.”

The Astros had runners on first and second in the sixth and final inning, but Bronx Holbron got a swinging strikeout to end it.

“He buckled down at the end,” Demello said.

Mililani Homegrown, the Mililani Astros and the host Hawaii Kai Cubs will represent Hawaii at the Pacific Southwest Regional, which will be held at CORP in mid-July. The winner of the 12-team regional advances to the World Series in Branson, Mo., which starts in early August. Homegrown and the Astros clinched regional berths by winning semifinal games Saturday.

“I’m just happy and excited that my team is going to regionals,” Demello said.

Homegrown’s six-run second was comprised of five singles and two walks. The team had belted 16 home runs in its five previous tournament games.

“We depend on our pitching and defense usually and we came out flat,” Demello said. “Luckily, we turned the tide after what happened in the first inning and put up six. Most of our games we depended on the home run. This game we did what we needed to do. We played small ball and moved the runners over. Couple base hits here and there.”

In the inning, Cruz Moniz hit an RBI single, Kamau Perreira drove in a run with a perfectly placed squeeze bunt to third with the bases loaded, Kahanu Demello had a run-scoring fielder’s choice, Holbron had a two-run single and Bronson Fermahin hit an RBI single.

“It felt good because in the past two games I hadn’t been doing good,” Holbron said of his hit.

The Astros cut the deficit to 6-4 in the third on Jayden Lee’s single, which scored Jahnoa Bartolome.

The Astros got within 6-5 in the fifth when Cheyson Borges scored on a passed ball. They later loaded the bases, but Holbron got a flyout to right to retire the side.

The Astros stranded 11 runners, including seven in scoring position.

“I’m just proud how they came back,” Astros manager Lee Anzai said. “Every inning they fought back. Scored one here, scored one here to get us to the last inning.”

Homegrown loaded the bases in the fifth against Jacob Bratton, but he got a popout to the second baseman to end the inning. Bratton did not allow a run over his final three innings of work.

“Bratton is our No. 1 guy,” Anzai said. “He got hurt earlier in the season, so he was out a good portion of it. Just to get him back on the mound, he’s still not in shape yet, but he did a hell of a job.”

The Astros got off to a hot start against Homegrown with a three-run top of the first inning.

Paxton Lum was hit by a pitch with one out and came around on three wild pitches. Bartolome had a run-scoring groundout to first and Lee had an RBI double.

“That’s how we want them to start whether we earn it or they give it to us,” Anzai said. “(Homegrown) had one big inning and got it back.”

Homegrown’s Kahanu Demello, the coach’s son, threw five wild pitches, issued two walks, hit one batter and allowed two hits in the inning.

Chad Demello said his son had caught all tournament and was perhaps too excited at the start of the game.

The defense of Homegrown center fielder Urijah Zeller prevented the Astros from adding to the lead in the second. Zeller made a sliding catch for the first out. With a runner at second and two outs, the 4-foot-6 Zeller robbed Lum of a hit with a driving grab in right-center.

“He saved us,” Chad Demello said. “He’s one of our energy guys. He keeps us in the game that way.”

In Saturday’s semifinals, Kahanu Demello homered twice and drove in six runs in Homegrown’s 9-0 victory over the Hawaii Kai All-Stars.

“He had a good performance. He had a good hitting tournament until the last game (0-for-3),” Chad Demello said of his son.

The Astros defeated the Mililani Hops 9-2 in the other semifinal.