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Hawaii Six-O

Mililani completes perfect run to Babe Ruth 13-year-old World Series title with thrilling win over New Jersey

By Matt Spielman 5 min read

Ezra Pule-Nicholas played the part of hero for Mililani, Hawaii, on Saturday.

With his arm and his bat.

Pule-Nicholas hit a two-run single in the top of the eighth inning and then pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the frame as the Pacific Southwest Region champions won the Babe Ruth 13-year-old World Series 4-2 over Atlantic Shore, New Jersey, at Diethrick Park.

"The parents bought in, the players bought in," manager Joseph Gabrillo said postgame, "and they kept on believing."

Hawaii finished the tournament with a perfect 6-0 record and outscored its opponents 40-7. The "Westside Bombers" trailed for just two innings at the start of a pool-play game Monday.

The teams went into an extra inning tied 1-1 Saturday and the international tiebreaker rule started Hawaii's Justice Gabrillo at second base. Logan Kawakami then laid down a sacrifice bunt and when an errant throw got away at first base, Gabrillo scored on the play.

Shiloh Irvine followed with another sacrifice bunt, Chaysten Fuentes was intentionally walked and Isaac Saoit drew a walk to load the bases before Pule-Nicholas hit a two-run single to right field that fell just in front of a lunging attempt from the New Jersey outfielder.

"Nothing fazes him. He's nails," Coach Gabrillo said of Pule-Nicholas. "That's our guy."

In the bottom of the inning, Landon Gracia started at second base for New Jersey before Nick Gelegonya singled and Gavin Colon reached on an error to plate a run, making it 4-2. After a strikeout, Liam Higginbottom walked to load the bases with one out, prompting a mound visit.

"We were going to live and die with Ezra," Coach Gabrillo said. "It was his all the way."

Pule-Nicholas responded, inducing a groundball for a 6-4-3 double play to end the game, setting off a wild celebration on the infield.

"They ended up scoring their one," Coach Gabrillo said. "We could breathe a little bit and (the two-run lead) gave us a little room for error. We pulled through and made the plays that had to be made."

Hawaii took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Kawakami walked with one out and went to second on Irvine's bunt single before Fuentes hit an RBI single.

Lowen Badayos-Asanion started for Hawaii, tossing two scoreless innings before running into trouble in the third. New Jersey No. 9 hitter Joey Gonzalez opened the inning by reaching on an error and Cole Leusner followed with a double. Hawaii then turned to Pule-Nicholas in relief, and the right-hander got out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts and a lineout to tournament Most Outstanding Player Stansen Verbeckmoes, who made a leaping catch at shortstop.

"I just needed Lowen to get us a couple of innings to get to Ezra; that was the plan. Ezra wouldn't have gone the whole game," Coach Gabrillo said. "It was a team effort. Everybody did their part. I'm proud of these guys."

The shutout remained intact until the bottom of the fifth inning when Gracia cleared the left-field fence with the only home run of the tournament.

"They are good," Coach Gabrillo said of the Middle Atlantic Region champions. "They put pressure on us the whole time."

Gracia's drive finally gave a run of support to New Jersey starter Grayson Zacchi, who pitched 7 1-3 innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits and five walks while striking out one.

"He threw a lot of strikes. We were trying to be aggressive on the fastball early, but these are 13-year-olds, they get nervous," Coach Gabrillo said. "I'm glad our guys stayed composed and the ball bounced our way."

After Gracia's home run, Pule-Nicholas pitched around a leadoff single in the sixth and a first-and-second situation in the seventh, getting out of both jams without allowing a run.

That set up a dramatic eighth to decide a champion.

"A couple of times we got nervous and got away from our plan," Coach Gabrillo said. "But at the end of the day, we stuck to the plan of trying to hit low line drives up the middle, and it worked out."

NOTES: Verbeckmoes was named the tournament's batting champion after hitting .571. ... The All-Tournament Team was made up of Irvine and Saoit from Hawaii; Gracia and Gelegonya from New Jersey; Whit Jacobs and CJ Usina of Tallahassee-Leon, Florida; Cade James and Eli Mosley of Janesville, Wisconsin; Max DeMoura of Bethel, Connecticut; and Jaxon Watts of Jamestown. ... The All-Defensive team was made up of Fuentes and Kawakami from Hawaii; Colon, Higginbottom and Grasso from New Jersey; Grayson Goeke from Florida; Colton Lund from Wisconsin; Owen Sveda from Connecticut; Waylon Basler from Southeast, Missouri; and Josh Cowan from Jamestown. ... Mililani, Hawaii, reached the Cal Ripken 10U World Series in Crown Point, Indiana, in 2023, losing in pool play. In 2024 and 2025, as 11U and 12U teams, respectively, Mililani lost to other Hawaii teams in the Pacific Southwest Regional.

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