BANGOR, Maine — Four games into the Senior Little League World Series, and Pearl City is right where it wants to be — two victories away from a title.

Pearl City finished pool play undefeated yesterday, beating host Bangor, 8-0, in a game bearing no strategic importance for either team.

Pearl City already had clinched first place in Pool A, and Bangor's hopes of sneaking into second place were dashed earlier in the day when Yorktown, Va., edged Regina, Saskatchewan, 4-3, to earn the pool's second berth to today's semifinals.

Knowing the outcome of the game didn't matter, Pearl City manager Gary Nakamoto said he "got most of the boys in there to have a chance to play at the World Series."

Pearl City right-handers Jordan Casarez and John Abreu combined to pitch a five-hitter, with Casarez striking out seven and walking no one in the first six innings and Abreu coming on for a 1-2-3 seventh.

"They did their job, and that's all you can ask from the boys," said Nakamoto.

Shortstop Jason Rasa, one of eight returning players from the 2005 Pearl City team that lost to Urbandale, Iowa, in the SLWS championship game, had two RBI singles in the first three innings as Pearl City built a 5-0 lead against Bangor right-hander Jordan Clarke.

"Last year has given us a lot of motivation. We've watched the videos a lot to see how we lost, and once we reached here again we set the goal that we were going to win the whole thing this year," said Rasa, who will get the pitching start today when 4-0 Pearl City plays 3-1 Bloomfield, N.J., in the second semifinal at 11:30 a.m. Hawai'i time.

Carlton Tanabe also singled twice and scored three runs against Bangor, while Jordan Dekneef tripled and Bryson Nakamura and Nainoa Tampos each doubled for the U.S. West champions.

Clarke tripled and doubled for Bangor, while Ryan Larochelle added two singles for the Maine District 3 representatives.

A sacrifice fly by Nakamura and an RBI single by Rasa staked Pearl City to a 2-0 lead. Rasa hit an RBI single in the third, and Tampos followed with a two-run double as the lead grew to 5-0.

Dekneef hit a one-out triple to left center in the Pearl City fourth and scored on a wild pitch. Bryson Namba later reached on an error and scored on Tanabe's single to left, and Tanabe came home with Pearl City's final run on a two-out double to right by Nakamura.

Pool B champion Falcon, Venezuela, will play Yorktown, Va., in today's first semifinal. Pearl City and the undefeated Latin America champions from Venezuela are favored to reach the title game, but Nakamoto sees a balanced field remaining.

"I'm pretty sure our kids are excited right now, and I just tell them that whatever happens (today) to have fun," he said.

HILO EARNS TOP SEED IN CAL RIPKEN SERIES

Hilo finished as the top seed in its pool in the Cal Ripken World Series for 12-year-olds in Aberdeen, Md.

Hilo (3-1), which had a bye yesterday, will play Satsuma, Ala., at 1:35 p.m. Hawai'i today in the U.S. semifinals. The game will be televised live on OLN (Outdoor Life Network).

The winners of the two U.S. semifinal games will play for the U.S. title tomorrow. The U.S. winner will play the International winner for the World Series title, 11 a.m. Sunday.