Little League World Series: Pearland faces Honolulu, Hawaii in its 2nd game of tournament

Shelton and Pearland Little League face Honolulu, Hawaii on Monday.

Jonathan Bruce Image
Saturday, August 20, 2022
Pearland pitcher gets redemption at Little League World Series
Pearland's opening win in the Little League was all about resilience for the team that rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to Pennsylvania.

WILLIAMSPORT, Pennsylvania (KTRK) -- Pearland Little League's next opponent has been revealed.

The team faces West Region champ Honolulu, Hawaii, which won its matchup Friday against Massapequa, New York in a 12-0 blowout.

The game airs Monday at 6 p.m. on ABC13 sister network ESPN2.

Both Pearland and Honolulu are unbeaten in the double-elimination tournament. Honolulu played one more game than Pearland so far in the tourney, already beating Bonney Lake, Washington in an 11-1 victory.

The winner of Pearland-Honolulu moves on to face the winner of Hagerstown, Indiana-Nolensville, Tennessee. That game, which would crown one of two U.S. Championship finalists, is scheduled on Wednesday.

Pearland pitcher Bubs Shelton gets redemption at Little League World Series after viral moment

The video for an earlier edition of this story is in the player above.

Pearland's opening win in the Little League was all about resilience, for the team that rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to Pennsylvania in front of a packed partisan crowd, and for Pearland pitcher Kaiden "Bubs" Shelton.

Shelton came on in relief of starter Corey Kahn in the 4th inning of a tie game and struck out both Pennsylvania batters to end the inning. Pearland would break it open the next inning to roll to an 8-3 opening round victory and give Shelton the win his first Little League World Series appearance.

SEE PREVIOUS STORY: Pearland Little League opens World Series with 8-3 victory over Pennsylvania

"When I came in my heart was beating really fast, like 10,000 times per second. Once I started throwing strikes, I had a lot of confidence in myself," Shelton said after the game.

It was a reversal of fortune and emotion for Shelton following his last appearance on the mound, when he hit an Oklahoma batter with an errant pitch and broke down in tears shortly after. He was then comforted by the batter. It was a moment of sportsmanship, and Shelton's vulnerability, for all the nation to see.

On Thursday, a crowd of 20,000 in Williamsport and a national ESPN audience saw Shelton at his absolute best.

"I'm so proud of this young man because he got all of the attention last time he was on the mound, he hit somebody and it went viral. So to come out in front of 18,000 people in a really close game and do that shows the kind of kid he is," said manager Aaron Cummings.

SEE RELATED: Pearland Little League's 4th trip to LLWS brings back memories for the 2010 team

Shelton took a simpler view.

"When I hit him, I felt really bad that day. So I'm trying not to hit people. I'm trying not to let it loose, and just throw strikes. Just throw it right down the middle," Shelton said.

Cummings added: "He sure looked like he was throwing pretty hard tonight."

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