Williamsport, Pa. >> Starting pitching was the test Wednesday as Central East Maui Little League took on Lake Mary, Fla., in its first elimination game at the Little League World Series.

Without ace Evan Tavares, Central East Maui turned to its other pitchers in hopes of staying alive. Lake Mary, representing the Southeast, scored in the first, second and third innings to take a lead and it would hold for a 4-3 victory over Maui.

The Hawaii team didn’t go away quietly. The Maui kids scored three in the fourth inning to pull within one and had the bases loaded with one out. But reliever Luis Calo struck out the next two batters to preserve the lead.

In the sixth and final inning, Gabriel Laloulu launched a deep fly to center for a double. He advanced to third on a sacrifice but got no further as Calo got a strikeout and ground ball out to end the game and the season for Central East Maui.

“They fought all the way until the end,” Central East Maui manager Daniel Bolduc said. “There was no quit. That’s all we can ask for.”

Three walks in the first inning by starter Hayden Takahashi opened it up for Lake Mary to score a run off a ground ball to shortstop. Garrett Rohozen drove a ball to Kanon Nakama, who stopped it and elected to take the out at first. A flyball to Cam Kaneshiro ended the inning.

“It’s been two emotional games,” Lake Mary manager Jonathan Anderson said. “That was a really good game tonight. Just a really good game. Emotionally these moments are a lot.”

Takahashicontinued to struggle with control in the second inning. After getting the first out, Takahashi walked Calo, who stole second. Teraj Alexander grounded a single to center, with Calo holding at third and Alexander taking second on the throw home. Takahashi gave a walk to load the bases then RBI singles to Lathan Norton and Hunter Alexander to make it 3-0. A pop out and fly out ended the inning.

Kamalei Leynes-Santos opened the third for Central East Maui and he gave up a home run to Garrett Rohozen. A walk on five pitches put Landon Bono on base. Leynes-Santos fanned two before a ground ball to third ended the inning.

Lynes-Santos got through the fourth without giving up a run. He walked a batter, but forced a ground ball to get two outs. A soft pop fly to shortstop ended the inning with Southeast still in front 4-0.

Maui’s offense struggled in the early innings of the game against Jacob Bibaud. He put together a string of seven consecutive outs. But Maui’s offense came alive in the fourth.

Kolten Magno opened with a single. Jet Pontes singled after a strikeout to move Magno to second.

Gauge Pacheco then connected with Maui’s best hit of the night, driving a ball down the left field line for a double, scoring Magno.

“In baseball you have to get that one spark,” Bolduc said. “We got a walk and strung together a couple hits. You got to have that spark. We had it that inning.”

Lake Mary decided to intentionally walk Tavares. But a grounder to short was bobbled and the throw to second was dropped as Pontes scored. A single from Matthew Yang brought Pacheco home for Maui’s third run of the inning. Back-to-back strikeouts by Calo of Takahashi and Nakama ended the inning.

“We were cruising with a four-run lead,” Anderson said. “All of a sudden Hawaii doesn’t go away. That is a really well-coached team.”

Yang, the catcher, was summoned to pitch in the fifth and shut down Lake Mary with two shutout innings, while giving up one hit and striking out four.

“Matthew Yang is one of the MVPs of the tournament for our team,” Bolduc said. “He had a bunch of key hits. He came in to pitch and put together two key innings. The kid is awesome.”

Two walks from Yang in the top of the fifth put a runner into scoring position. But Yang recorded two strikeouts before fanning DeMarcos Mieses, who hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning Tuesday to eliminate the Staten Island, N.Y., team.

Laloulu opened the bottom of the sixth with a double to the centerfield wall. It appeared to be headed out, but the ball crashed against the wall, giving Laloulu more than enough time to reach second with a stand-up double. He reached third on a sacrifice bunt from Magno.

“Mags is all-around,” Bolduc said. “You can ask the guys. He’s one of my favorite players. He’s got passion for the game. He’s got a great attitude.”

Leynes-Santos struck out for the inning’s second out.

Bolduc challenged for catcher’s interference on the call. It was upheld when the replay showed the ball was tipped into the glove. Pontes grounded out to end the game.

“We just fell one run short,” Bolduc said.

Lake Mary, Fla. 4, Central East Maui 3

Lake Mary 121 000 — 4 6 1

Central East Maui 000 300 — 3 6 1

Jacob Bibaud, Luis Calo (3) and Landon Bono; Hayden Takahashi, Kamalei Leynes-Santos (2), Matthew Yang (4) and Yang, Kanon Nakama (4).

W—Bibaub. L—Takahashi.

Leading hitter: Lake Mary—Garrett Rohozen 1-3, HR, run. Central East Maui—Gauge Pacheco 2-2, 2B, run, RBI; Gabriel Laloulu 1-2, 2B.

Records: Lake Mary, Fla. 3-1. Central East Maui 2-2.