SAN BERNARDINO >> The players of Eastvale Little League knew that whatever happened, they did it together.

With a spot at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on the line, the Southern California 12-and-under champions struggled to make contact and mustered only three hits in a 2-1 loss to Hawaii in the West Region championship game Friday night at Al Houghton Stadium.

“We’re disappointed but it just so happens that we ran into one of the best left-handers in the nation,” Eastvale Little League manager Corey Tatum said.

East Central Maui Little League starting pitcher Evan Tavares was dominant through 5 1/3 innings, striking out a tournament-high 13 batters to lead Hawaii back to the World Series.

“That was Evan doing Evan,” Hawaii manager Daniel Bolduc said. “We’ve seen him do this before, 15 strikeouts, 14 strikeouts, both at the state tournament.”

Tavares helped his own cause from the beginning, scoring on a wild pitch to give Hawaii a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. He then struck out the side in the bottom half to set a tone for the rest of the game.

“I felt good, and the entire team was pumping,” Tavares said. “We just wanted to smash them.”

Tavares struck out two or more batters in each of his five full frames, allowing just a solo run in the second inning after Jack Mette singled and came around to score on a wild pitch.

“He’s a phenomenal pitcher and we tried to run up his pitch count, swing at strikes and lay off the outside stuff,” Tatum said. “We did our job but it was just a little too late.”

Tavares added the game-winning run after reaching on an error in the fifth, advancing on a ground out and scoring from second base on an RBI single from Hayden Takahashi.

“There was a little more pressure because of the crowd,” said Tavares, noting the more than 12,000 spectators at the game. “That was a big crowd. It was great.”

Removed after allowing a single to Jayden Lam (2 for 2) in the sixth, Tavares was replaced by Kanon Nakama, who got a strikeout and a ground out to finish the game and send Hawaii to its fifth World Series in the past six years.

“This is huge for us,” Bolduc said. “To do this for the people of Maui and Lahaina, and the support they’ve given us has been unreal. This is amazing.”

Cruz, who tossed a shutout in the West Region opener for Eastvale, allowed just three hits and struck out seven as the team had its nine-game winning streak snapped.

“Gavin is a warrior, and he kept us in it the whole way,” Tatum said. “He couldn’t wait to get to this game and he gave us a shot.”

Cruz, who had reached base successfully in each of his six tournament at-bats, struck out twice against Tavares as Eastvale lost for the first time since the opening game of the SoCal state tournament on July 21.