Hinsdale’s Dillon Phelan delivers a pitch in the opening game against Hawaii. (Courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball)

Behind a dominating performance by left-handed starting pitcher Evan Tavares, Hawaii toppled Hinsdale 5-0 Friday afternoon in the second round of the 2024 Little League World Series, in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Hinsdale, representing the Great Lakes Region, was playing in its first game of the tournament after earning a first-round bye. West Region entry Hawaii opened play Aug. 14 with a 3-1 win over New England.

Hinsdale threatened in the top of the first inning on Friday, with leadoff hitter Freddie Sackley reaching on a walk, immediately followed by a single from Kellan Goodwin. But the rally stalled there, as Sackley was forced out at third base on a fielder’s choice grounder for the first out. Tavares ended the frame with a pair of strikeouts, the first of his nine overall in five innings of work.

Hawaii then nabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Hinsdale lefty starter Dillon Phelan allowed a one-out walk to Tavares, who eventually advanced to third on a passed ball before scoring on an RBI single by Kanon Nakama.

Tavares and Phelan both struck out the side in their respective halves of the second inning, and Tavares added a pair of strikeouts in the top of the third.

Hinsdale’s Alex Vivanco tags out Hawaii’s Brextyn Kamaha’o Hong at third base, during the first inning of Friday’s first-round game. (Courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball)

Things unraveled a bit for Hinsdale in the bottom of the third, with Hawaii scoring three runs to go up 4-0. Gabriel Laloulu scored the first run of the inning on a bases-loaded walk to Jet Pontes with one out, and Phelan was removed an out later in favor of Grant Wanless. Tavares stepped to the plate next and smashed a hard grounder up the middle, driving in Kamalei Leynes-Santos and Pontes for the four-run bulge.

Looking to climb back, Hinsdale saw Goodwin smack a two-out single in the top of the fourth, but Tavares shut the door by retiring Phelan on a well-stroked grounder. Wanless then retired the side in order in the bottom of the frame, and Hawaii did the same in the top of the fifth, with Cam Kaneshiro taking over for Tavares to net the third out on a flyball by Shane Behar.

Sackley took the hill in Hawaii’s half of the fifth, but had a rough go, hitting Leynes-Santos with the bases loaded to score Laloulu with the fifth and final run. Emiliano Nepomuceno came in to pitch and finished the inning unscathed.

Hinsdale had one last chance in the top of the sixth, and Wanless came through with a one-out single but advanced no farther.

Hinsdale returns to action at 8 a.m. Sunday, while Hawaii gets back at it on Monday. All games are televised on the ESPN network.