SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Waipi'o Little League left-handed pitcher Khade Paris was outstanding in yesterday's Little League Majors (ages 11-12) West Regional game against Green Valley of Henderson, Nev., striking out 13 batters and allowing only three hits.

But the Waipi'o offense was silenced by Green Valley's Alec Hutt in a 1-0 defeat.

Hutt struck out 12 and pitched a one-hit shutout. Green Valley scored in the top of the sixth inning on a homer by shortstop Phillip McGovern off Keelan Obedoza.

Green Valley is 3-0 in the tournament, and the Nevadans have clinched one of the top two positions for Thursday's semifinal round. The Nevada team plays Chandler of Arizona tonight, and can clinch the top seed with a victory.

Waipi'o is 1-2 in the tournament, and plays Chandler tomorrow at 8:45 a.m., Hawai'i time.

Even if Waipi'o loses to Chandler, it could still earn a semifinal berth if Solana Beach, Calif., defeats San Jose, Calif., because Waipi'o and San Jose would each have 1-3 records and Waipi'o would have the tie-breaker as a result of its 14-11 extra-inning victory Sunday.

The big difference in yesterday's game was the pitch count. Tournament pitchers are not allowed to face a batter if they have thrown more than 84 pitches. Paris had to leave after the fifth inning because he had thrown 89 pitches to that point.

"We talked at the start of the fifth inning, and we told some of the kids to try to take some pitches and get the pitch count up," Green Valley coach Greg Morris said, noting that Paris did an excellent job. The Nevada team had scored 22 runs in its first two games, but had zeroes in the first five innings.

With any luck, Paris might not have given up two of the three hits. Tanner Tokunaga almost made a great play on McGovern's first-inning single, and Brett Haney managed to reach first base when he hit a routine grounder that hit first base and bounced over Obedoza's head.

Hutt finished the game with 71 pitches, and didn't walk anyone. Westin Fabro led off the second inning with a single for Waipi'o's only hit.

"We ran into a really great pitcher," Waipi'o coach Timo Donahue said. "He got ahead on the count and all of his pitches were right around the strike zone, so it is really tough to take pitches."

Added Paris: "I feel a little bad because we didn't get any hits, but their pitcher threw some good curves and mixed his pitches well."

McGovern, who hit a home run and was the winning pitcher in Nevada's 8-0 victory on Sunday, made two outstanding defensive plays at shortstop against Waipi'o and provided the decisive hit even if he didn't completely follow his coach's instructions.

"I told him (McGovern) to take a pitch, and he swings at the first pitch, which was in the dirt," Morris said.

Obedoza had an 0-2 count on McGovern when he homered over the center-field fence.

"He stayed back on the ball," Morris said.

GREEN VALLEY 000 001—1 4 0

WAIPI'O 000 000—0 1 0

Khade Paris, Keelan Obedoza (6) and Iolana Akau. Alec Hutt and Mitchell Parker. W—Hutt. L—Paris.

Leading hitters: Henderson—Michael Hillcoat double; Phillip McGovern homer.

Seniors (ages 14-16): Kolten Wong batted 3 for 5 with a double, homer and four RBIs, and Blake Amaral belted a three-run homer as Hilo beat Columbus, Mont., 15-7, yesterday in the semifinals of the West Regional at Salem, Ore.

Amaral's homer highlighted a four-run fifth inning. Wong homered in the third and had a two-run double during a seven-run seventh, which made it 15-5.

Hilo, which is 5-0 in the tournament, will play Tucson, Ariz., in today's final at 3 p.m. (Hawai'i time). Tucson (4-1) beat previously unbeaten San Diego, 2-0, in yesterday's other semifinal.

Last Monday, Hilo beat Tucson, 11-1.

HILO 012 140 7—15 14 2

COLUMBUS, MONT. 020 210 2— 7 9 5

Blake Amaral, Jared Shiroma (7) and Kolten Wong. Jordan Wilson, Max Jahn (7) and Sam Faust. W—Amaral. L—Wilson.

Leading hitters: Hilo—Keaka Pilayo 4-4, triple; Wong 3-5, double, homer, 4 RBIs; Jordan Ottis 2-3, double; Thad Yasuhara 2-4; Amaral homer, 3 RBIs; Eric Hernandez 2 RBIs. Montana—Wilson 2-2; Jahn 2-3; Spencer Bakich 2-4, double, 2 RBIs.

PONY

Pony (13-14): Windward was eliminated from the West Zone tournament yesterday when it fell to Quartz Hill (Calif.), 3-2, at Fullerton, Calif.

Quartz Hill scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh on a one-out RBI-single by Kyle Taisacan.

Windward, which trailed 2-0 after the first inning, scored runs in the third and fifth innings to tie it.

Jordan DePonte batted 3 for 4 with a triple for Windward, which finished 1-2 in the tournament. Both losses were by one run.

WINDWARD 001 010 0—2 5 2

QUARTZ HILL, CALIF. 200 000 1—3 6 3

Jared Matsumoto, Chase Wayton (4), Michael Thomas (7), Alika Ramsmeyer-Ho (7) and Aalona Amimoto, Ethan Mahaulu (7). Austin McBroom and James Grandpre. W—McBroom. L—Matsumoto.

Leading hitters: Windward—Jordan DePonte 3-4, triple. Quartz Hill—Sho Serrano 2 runs.

USABF

Ages 18-younger: Austin Sloan pitched four innings of relief and Waylen Sing Chow drove in four runs as West O'ahu beat Nevada, 7-0, yesterday at the United States Amateur Baseball Federation World Series in San Diego.

The game was called after five innings because of the seven-run mercy rule.

West O'ahu completed pool play 4-0-1. The double-elimination format starts tomorrow.

Sloan, who entered in the second, struck out six.

Bucky Aona had two RBIs, and Nick Wong and Darrin Baccay each scored two runs.

NEVADA 000 00—0 2 1

WEST O'AHU 004 03—7 8 0

Brett Nakasone, Austin Sloan (2) and Darby Ventura. Smith, Gonvales (5) and Notaro. W—Sloan. L—Smith.

Leading hitters: West O'ahu—Waylen Sing Chow double, 4 RBIs; Bucky Aona 2 RBIs; Nick Wong 2 runs; Darrin Baccay 2-2, 2 runs.