Little League World Series 2022: Curacao vs. Hawai'i Championship Predictions

The stage is finally set for the 2022 Little League World Series championship game. Four teams made it to Saturday, with Pabao Little League of Willemstad, Curaçao and Honolulu Little League of Honolulu, Hawai'i advancing to Sunday's final.

Curacao, representing the Caribbean region outlasted Fu-Lin Little League of Chinese Taipei (Asia Pacific region) in a 1-0 pitching dual. Honolulu, representing the West region in the U.S. bracket, defeated Nolensville, Tennessee (Southeast region) 5-1.

The winners of the international and United States brackets will now face off to crown one true world champion.

Here's everything you need to know to catch all the action as the 2022 LLWS reaches its epic conclusion.

Sunday's Schedule

Lamade Stadium (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pearland, Texas plays Davenport, Iowa in Lamade Stadium during the fifth inning of a baseball game at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa., Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022. Texas won 4-0. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Sunday, August 28

LLWS Consolation Game: Nolensville LL (Tennessee) vs. Fu-Lin LL (Chinese Taipei)

Where: Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania

When: 10 a.m. ET

TV: ESPN

LLWS Championship Game: Pabao Little League (Curacao) vs. Honolulu LL (Hawai'i)

Where: Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania

When: 3 p.m. ET

TV: ABC

How They Got Here

Curacao's Jay-Dlynn Wiel (Photo by Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images. Set Number: X164126 TK3)

Youth Baseball: Little League World Series: Caribbean Region (Pabao Little League Willemstad, Curacao) Jay-Dlynn Wiel (7) in action, pitching vs Europe-Africa Region (Emilia Romagna Little League Bologna, Italy) during game at Volunteer Stadium. Williamsport, PA 8/21/2022 CREDIT: Erick W. Rasco (Photo by Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X164126 TK3)

Before we preview Sunday's final, let's take a look at each team's recent path through its respective bracket.

While no team has had a truly easy time in the tournament, United States champion Hawai'i has made it look easy as of late. The team from Honolulu cruised through the winner's bracket and topped Nolensville in two consecutive games.

Jonnovyn Sniffen started for Hawai'i in the first meeting with Tennessee. He threw two shutout innings and helped kick off a 13-0 route. In the rematch, Hawai'i jumped out to a 3-0 lead through two innings and never looked back.

Nolensville's Jack Rhodes scored in the fourth off a Wright Martin bunt, but Tennessee never drew closer than 3-1. A two-run homer by Ruston Hiyoto provided the final margin.

Hawai'i has now outscored its last five LLWS opponents 47-2.

Things were more of a challenge for the team from Curacao, as the Caribbean representative has scraped through the elimination bracket.

On Wednesday, Curacao won convincingly in a 7-2 contest against Latin America (Managua, Nicaragua). On Thursday, Pabao Little League outlasted its opponents from the Mexico Region (Matamoros, Mexico).

Curaçao's Jay-Dlynn Wiel pitched six innings and delivered six strikeouts, while Mexico's David Zarate delivered eight strikeouts on Thursday. That game was a fitting preview of what was to come against Chinese Taipei.

Pitching again carried Curacao on Saturday. Reangelo Decaster (4.2 innings, four hits, four strikeouts) and Qshondrickson Doran (1.1 innings, no hits, one walk) combined to deliver the shutout, while Jaydion Louisa delivered an RBI single in the third.

Curacao couldn't muster much offense against Taipei's Li Fang-Mo (nine strikeouts) as they got enough to punch a ticket to the final game.

Preview and Prediction

Jaron Lancaster of Hawai'i (Photo by Erick W. Rasco /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images. Set Number: X161124 TK2)

Youth Baseball: Little League World Series: West Region (Honolulu Little League Honolulu, Hawaii) Jaron Lancaster (13) in action, pitching vs Metro Region (Massapequa Coast Little League -Massapequa, New York) during game at Lamade Field. Williamsport, PA 8/19/2022 CREDIT: Erick W. Rasco (Photo by Erick W. Rasco /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X161124 TK2)

Strong pitching has pushed Curacao this week, and it will have to carry the day if the international champion homes to win the entire tournament.

Curacao does have the arms to make this a competitive title game. In addition to Wiel, Decaster and Doran, Curacao has Davey-Jay Rijke, who delivered 15 strikeouts with no walks against Nicaragua.

A low-scoring pitching battle won't guarantee victory for Curacao. Honolulu's pitching has been nearly flawless throughout the tournament. On Saturday, Cohen Sakamoto struck out seven in 4 2/3 innings. He, Sniffen and Jaron Lancaster have made life difficult for opposing batters throughout their team's run.

Sakamoto, it should be noted, can't pitch Sunday because of pitch-limit regulations.

A high-scoring game will decidedly favor Hawai'i, which has averaged just over nine runs per game in the LLWC. There are simply no notable weaknesses on Honolulu's roster.

"They’re that good," Nolensville manager Randy Huth said, per Evan Wheaton of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. "Really well coached team, they hit a ton."

Sunday's game will be a fun one, but the prediction here is that Hawai'i emerges victorious for the first time since winning the tournament in 2018.

Prediction: Hawai'i wins 4-1