BANGOR – The El Rio All-Stars have struggled defensively at times during the 2004 Senior Little League Baseball World Series.

But with a berth in the world championship game at stake, the Oxnard, Calif., team played impeccably Friday behind left-hander Jacob Regalado, who pitched a four-hitter as the U.S. West champions edged Maracaibo, Venezuela, 1-0 in a semifinal at Mansfield Stadium.

“It’s the kind of game we like, where we rely on our pitching and defense, and that’s what won it for us,” said Regalado. “I just wanted to let my defense work. I knew they were great hitters, but I just tried to put it over the plate and let my defense do the job.”

The win sends El Rio to Saturday’s 1 p.m. championship game against U.S. East representative Freehold Township, N.J., a 1-0 winner over Dade City, Fla., in Friday’s first semifinal.

Regalado threw just 68 pitches – reaching a three-ball count on just two batters – with four strikeouts and no walks while frustrating the Latin American champions with an assortment of well-located fastballs and off-speed pitches.

“Jacob just got ahead all day,” said El Rio manager Pancho Tinoco. “He threw first-pitch strikes, and when he got ahead, he made them hit his pitches and put it in play.

“They hit a couple balls hard, but right at people. He did a great job. He got ahead, and stayed ahead.”

El Rio, which made nine errors during four games of pool play leading to the semifinals, didn’t come close to making an error against a Venezuelan team that entered Friday’s game having yielded just 18 hits and three earned runs in 28 innings of tournament play.

Maracaibo right-hander Victor Galue matched Regalado virtually pitch for pitch, hurling a 93-pitch five-hitter with eight strikeouts and two walks.

There was little margin for error for either team, and while El Rio capitalized on one Maracaibo mistake to score the game’s lone run, the Latin America champions got no such chances.

“The key to the game was that we hit too many flies, and this field is really big,” said Maracaibo manager Gustavo Marcano. “They made all the plays defensively. They were really good and didn’t make any errors.”

El Rio took its 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Regalado hit a leadoff single to right, and advanced to second on a chopper in front of the plate by Ryan Hotchkiss. David Oropeza came in as a special pinch runner for Regalado, but had to stay at second on a single by Geoff Ostrove that was trapped by Maracaibo center fielder Carlos Salazar.

A.J. Barroso then hit a slow, spinning grounder off the pitching mound toward shortstop David Rincon. Rincon’s throw to first was too late to get Barroso, and Ostrove scored from second on the play as first baseman Eudondar Gonzalez overthrew home plate.

“There was two outs, so I just kept running, and the fielder threw it away,” said Oropeza.

That run held up because when Maracaibo did threaten against Regalado, his defense came up big, particularly in the bottom of the fourth.

Singles by Francisco Mendez and Salazar gave Maracaibo runners at first and second with one out. Galue followed with a grounder to shortstop Eric Navarro. He threw to Ostrove at second base for the forceout, and Ostrove made a perfect relay throw to first just as Salazar slid into him to complete the inning-ending double play.

It was a clean takeout,” said Ostrove, who was playing second base for the first time in the World Series after seeing duty at third base during pool play. “I was in the baseline, and he came in hard. I just tried to get rid of the ball as fast as I could.”

U.S. WEST 1, LATIN AMERICA 0

El Rio, Calif. (4-1) Maracaibo, Venezuela (3-2)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

E. Navarro ss 4 0 0 0 Soto lf 1 0 0

Larios 1b 2 0 1 0 R. Gonzalez lf-2b 2 0

Regalado p 3 0 1 0 E. Gonzalez 1b 3 0 0

Hotchkiss cf 2 0 1 0 Silva 2b 1 0 0

Ostrove 2b 2 0 1 0 Mendez lf 2 0 0

Ramirez 3b 1 0 0 0 Salazar cf 3 0 0

Oropeza lf-pr 1 1 0 0 Galue p 3 0 0

Escobar lf 2 0 0 0 Prado c 2 0 0 0

A. Navarro rf 1 0 0 0 J. Gonzalez 3b 0 0

Barroso rf 2 0 1 0 Urdaneta 3b-2b 3 0 0

Espinoza c 3 0 0 0 Gomez rf-c 2 0 0

Segovia 3b-2b 3 0 0 0 Rincon ss 2 0

Totals 26 1 5 0 Totals 24 0 4 0

U.S. West 000 100 0 ? 1

Latin America 000 000 0 ? 0

E?E. Gonzalez, Rincon; LOB?West 6, Latin America 4; 2B?Galue; DP?West 1; SB?Hotchkiss

U.S. West IP H R ER BB SO

Regalado (W, 1-1) 7 4 0 0 0 4

Latin America IP H R ER BB SO

Galue (L, 0-2) 7 5 1 0 2 8

HBP?J. Gonzalez (by Regalado); T?1:30; ATT?700 (est.)