SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Khade Paris did some good things for Waipi'o in last night's opening game in the Little League Majors (ages 11-12) West Regional against Solana Beach, but it wasn't quite enough for a winning result.

Paris struck out 11 batters and reached base three times, but Solana Beach starter Evan Schrieber also struck out 11 Waipi'o batters to lead the Southern California representative to a 3-2 victory.

Waipi'o plays Moreland, the Northern California representative, tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. in pool play. Solana Beach plays Las Vegas Green Valley, the Nevada representative, tomorrow night.

"We faced a pretty good pitcher tonight," said Waipi'o coach Timo Donahue, who coached Waipi'o when it made the tournament last year. "We have some pretty good bats and I think we started to get more comfortable as the game went on."

Trailing 3-1 going to the bottom of the sixth inning, Waipi'o made a strong effort to tie the game. Left fielder Westin Fabro opened the inning with a home run which hit the roof of a souvenir stand just beyond the right-field fence.

After the next two batters struck out, Tanner Tokunaga doubled to right off relief pitcher Matt Kirkpatrick. Keelen Obedoza followed with a single to left, but Solana Beach left fielder Jackson Gentes made a strong throw to the plate to hold Tokunaga. Troy Vicari tried to bunt to reach base and get the tying run home, but Kirkpatrick fielded the ball cleanly and threw to first for the third out. Waipi'o had two bunt singles during the game, so there was reason to believe a bunt could succeed.

"The comeback was unbelievable and we gave it a good shot," said Donahue. "We have good hitters and we will do well."

Solana Beach took a 1-0 advantage when Hayden Grant led off the third inning with a home run to center field. It added two runs in the top of the fifth with a two-out rally. Schreiber singled to center, and Donahue replaced Paris, who had only five pitches left before the pitch-count limit of 85.

"We thought he (Paris) looked tired," Donahue said. After the next two batters walked to load the bases, Daniel Reitzler delivered a two-run single.

Waipi'o staged a two-out rally in its half of the fifth when Chad Uyehara singled and Paris followed with a bunt single. A wild throw to second went into center field and allowed Uyehara to score with Paris reaching third.

This age group produced the West O'ahu Little League World Series champions in 2005. It is the oldest youth baseball organization, starting in 1939 and holding its first World Series in 1947.

ELSEWHERE

Little League Seniors: Kendall Ushijima, Eric Hernandez and Thad Yasuhara combined on a five-inning, one-hitter as Hilo beat Emmett, Idaho, 10-0, yesterday at the Little League Seniors (ages 14-16) West Regional at Salem, Ore.

Hilo (4-0) had already clinched the top seed in Pool B on Wednesday. It outscored its pool-play opponents by a combined 38-4.

Hilo will play the loser of today's game between San Diego and Columbus, Mont., in the semifinals Monday. Both teams are 3-0 in Pool A.

Kolten Wong homered in the third inning, and Blake Amaral's homer highlighted a seven-run fourth inning.

Babe Ruth (ages 13-15): Ryan Yamane went 2 for 4 with a triple and Jeremy Ioane also went 2 for 4 as Punahou beat South Reno, 8-4, in the Babe Ruth Pacific Southwest Regionals in Hanford California.

Punahou will play tomorrow in the double-elimination tournament.

USABF WORLD SERIES: Steven Hagen and Nick Wong hit home runs as West O'ahu beat Taylor (Wash.), 13-5, yesterday in the 18-under United States Amateur Baseball Federation World Series in San Diego.

SOFTBALL

16-UNDER: Jamie Millwood drove in the winning run with a double in the seventh inning as the Guava Jam of Mililani beat the Mize Diamonds of Northern California, 5-4 in the ASA Softball Western A Nationals (ages 16-under) in Sunnyvale, Calif. Guava Jam is 3-1 in pool play.

Kolohe ('Ewa Beach) fell to the Colorado Comets, 1-0 and then to the Central Cal Dirt Dogs, 4-0, yesterday and was eliminated.

14-under: Samantha Ford drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Kupono over the Fresno Force, 6-5, in the ASA Softball Western A Nationals (14-under) at Phoenix.

Later, Kupono beat the California Heat, 11-2, to stand at 6-1 in pool play. Kupono will need to win four games today to advance to tomorrow's title game.

12-UNDER: Keiki Carlos tossed a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts as the Island Ladies from Mililani beat Hillsboro (Ore.), 3-1, yesterday in bracket play in the ASA Softball Western A Nationals in Portland, Ore.

Island Ladies also beat Beaverton (Ore.), 8-6, in another bracket play contest, with Carlos going 4 for 4 with two RBIs.