A team of 12- and 13-year-olds from Central East Maui won the World Series Little League Series title for the intermediate division in the United States. The team came from behind to defeat a Louisiana team at Max Baer Park in Livermore, Calif., Saturday night. Courtesy photo

A Central East Maui All Star team is the Little League World Series champion in the United States.

The team of 12- and 13-year-olds from the Valley Isle secured the U.S. intermediate division title by defeating Louisiana 7-3 in a come-from behind victory Saturday night at Max Baer Park in Livermore, California.

“We’re proud of these boys,” said coach Kory Takamura. “They never gave up, played hard till the end.”

In the championship game, Louisiana scored first and built a three-run lead, but Central East Maui responded with five runs in the fourth inning and two runs in the fifth.

Central East Maui pitchers Hayden Takahashi and Evan Tavares helped to keep the score to three.

In the double-elimination tournament, the team from Maui defeated the same Louisiana team from the greater New Orleans area 7-0 last week, with three home runs, including a grand slam by pitcher Evan Tavares.

Tavares said he didn’t know he hit a grand slam and didn’t see it fly over the fence.

“I thought it was a pop fly, but it ended up going over the fence,” Tavares said. “I was super happy.”

The team includes players from various schools including Kamehameha Schools Maui, Lahaina Intermediate, Iao Intermediate and Maui Waena.

The team is made up of Brextyn Hong, Cam Kaneshiro, Gabriel Laloulu, Kamalei Leynes-Santos, Kolten Magno, Eassie “Kaiehu” Miller, Kanon Nakama, Gauge Pacheco, Jet Pontes, Hayden Takahashi, Kellen Takamura, Evan Tavares and Matthew Yang.

The staff includes coaches Takamura and Lester Nakama and manager Brendan Fujii.

In post U.S. play, Central East Maui battled back for the World Series international crown in the intermediate division to face Venezuela. The Central East Maui team scored 7 runs in the first inning, but Venezuela battled back and won 12-7.