World champions. And they left no doubt.

The Central East Maui Little League All-Stars ran past Willemstad, Curacao, 11-0 in six innings to claim the Senior League World Series championship on Saturday in Easley, S.C.

Earlier in the day, CEM beat the host team 10-0 in six innings for the U.S. championship.

Maui finished the summer 11-0 and outscored opponents 116-22, including 58-5 in five games at the World Series. They never trailed in any game they played.

“It’s been a magical run,” Maui manager Craig Okita said. “I haven’t been a part of a team that hit so well for such a long period of time. I’ve seen our guys pitch well and I’ve seen them pitch bad, so it’s just been a matter of trying to get them to pitch their best.

“When the chips were on the table, they did just that.”

The often stoic Ben Zeigler-Namoa was visibly excited after he pitched a three-hitter in the national championship game.

“It feels good, I will tell you that much,” Zeigler-Namoa said from the field after a celebration with fans. “It feels great, I didn’t know we would come this far.”

Lee Souza, a Baldwin High School junior, pitched a one-hitter in the world championship game with five strikeouts and one walk. Makane Honokaupu was 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs and two RBIs, while Dylan Kokubun was 2-for-4 with a run.

Souza did not know he was going to get the start on the mound for the world championship game until the national title game was in the books a couple hours prior — the U.S. championship game was postponed by weather on Friday night.

“Right after our first game coach came up to me and said I was going to pitch,” Souza said. “I guess I did. I wasn’t really nervous. We have a good defense, that’s why.”

The team is made up of players from Baldwin, Kamehameha Maui and Maui High.

“It was a lot of fun because we got to represent the state and the island very well when we got up here,” Souza said. “It was also a fun experience to have.”

They came together as one to represent the island. Five players came back from last year’s SLWS team that went 1-2 in Easley: Zeigler-Namoa, Isiah Kekahuna-Hernandez, Tiger Caulford, Isaiah Souza and Keelan Yagi.

“This team was very good,” Lee Souza said. “A lot of people kind of doubted us, but, you know, it feels great.”

In the U.S. championship game, Zeigler-Namoa, a junior at Baldwin, went the distance on the mound with five strikeouts and one walk to pick up the victory. He was also 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and two RBIs at the plate.

“I just wanted to throw,” Zeigler-Namoa said. “Offensively we started out really good every game, we swung the bats well every game and we just played from there.”

Okita added of his two Saturday pitchers: “Both of them pitched lights out, lights out. I don’t know how to explain it. They made pitch after pitch.”

Caulford was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI, while Kokubun was 3-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs in the U.S. title tilt.

In addition to Zeigler-Namoa, Kekahuna-Hernandez, Lee Souza, Isaiah Souza, Caulford, Honokaupu, Yagi and Kokubun, the rest of this CEM roster includes Davin Lewis, Shaeston Machida-Santos, Wehiwa Aloy, Dylan Waite, Ethan Tokishi, Zack Ota, Danelle Daniels and Zach Pascual.

The only other Little League world champions from Maui were the 2016 Intermediate team from Central East Maui. That team included six players from the Senior world champions — Yagi, Kekahuna-Hernandez, Caulford, Isaiah Souza, Lee Souza and Machida-Santos.

“They made it look easy, but let me tell you, my stomach’s been sore for the last three days,” Okita said.

In 11 games this summer, Okita’s squad was the visitor eight times. He chose that distinction after the formula worked well in the first game Saturday.

“My guys asked me, ‘Coach, are we changing dugouts?’ And I said, ‘Do you guys want to be visitors in the world championship game?’ They said, ‘Yes,’ ” Okita said. “So, they flipped the coin and I finally won a coin flip and when I call ‘visitors’ the coach on the other side, his jaw just dropped.”

The plan worked to perfection again as Maui took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first highlighted by Isaiah Souza’s two-run single. Maui pushed the lead to 6-0 in the top of the second inning when Honokaupu smacked a two-run double.

“I think this is our seventh or eighth game that we’ve been visitors and every game we scored in the first inning,” Okita said. “I looked back and told coach Dean (Yamashita) and coach Shane (Awai) that we never were losing. That’s incredible.”

Okita, who was hired as Baldwin’s head coach last month, said this will be his last summer coaching.

“There’s no way we could get here if it wasn’t for the hard work with coach Dean, coach Shane and the guys back home as well,” Okita said. “It’s not me. Yeah, I’m the manager of this team, but one person does not make your team. It’s our community, I feel, that we have back home, the parents and the kids — their dedication to the sport.

“We don’t have superstars. We don’t, but we have 16 players that understand the game of baseball. I told the guys from the beginning: ‘We’re a pretty good team. If we play well, we will win this thing.’ ”

Mayor Michael Victorino offered his congratulations to the team.

“Mrs. Victorino and I are so incredibly proud of our Central East Maui boys for their remarkable accomplishment,” Victorino said in a statement. “This is a special group of young men that overcame every obstacle in their path and they will remember this moment for years to come.

“I’d also like to recognize all of our players and coaches who are representing Maui County. Good luck and God Bless.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.