BANGOR, Maine — Hilo outscored its opponents 165-26 in tournament play leading up to the Little League Senior (ages 14-16) World Series.

Hilo showcased its powerful offense yesterday afternoon, scoring 12 runs in the fourth and five in the fifth en route to a 17-2 romp of Asia-Pacific representative Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CMNI) in a Pool A game at Mansfield Stadium.

The game ended after five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

Hilo's offense couldn't muster much for the first three innings, because of the solid pitching of CMNI starter Marley Techur and what Hilo coach Kaha Wong believed was some jet lag.

"We flew 13 hours yesterday, we have to adjust to the six-hour difference from Hawai'i," Wong said.

Hilo got its bats going after collecting only one hit through the first three innings, showcasing the offense that had outscored its opponents 64-11 at the U.S. West regionals.

The Big Island team bunched seven of its 11 hits, and took advantage of three CMNI errors in its fourth-inning rally.

Kolten Wong led off with a walk, and after advancing to third on a wild pickoff attempt by Techur, Blake Amaral slammed a 3-2 fastball over the left-field fence to give Hilo a 2-1 lead.

Amaral, who said he was expecting a fastball on the full count, credited the solid work of pitchers Kendal Ushijima, Erik Hernandez and Jared Shiroma as well as the bats.

"The offense will be (key)," he said. "We have a really good pitching staff; we have a deep rotation."

Hilo sent 16 batters to the plate, and tallied six runs after two were out. Key hits included an RBI single by Ryan Fukunaga and a two-run double to deep center field by Jeremy Crivello that capped the rally and put Hilo solidly in front 12-1.

"We ended up picking up the ball better, and ended up hitting like we're supposed to hit," Wong said.

Hilo's aggressiveness at the plate produced strong results, which Wong hopes will continue throughout the weeklong tournament.

"We've got to be aggressive and swing the bat," Wong said. "We've got a pretty good hitting team, and we've got pretty good pitching, too, so if everything falls into place we should be OK."

Hilo added five more runs in the top of the fifth, sparked by Kolten Wong's RBI triple, an RBI single by Crivello and a two-run error by left fielder Giovanni Ayuyu off the bat of Shiroma.

Keaka Pilayo batted 3 for 3, including a triple, and Wong and Crivello each hit 2 for 3. Crivello drove in three runs, and Wong and Amaral contributed two RBIs apiece.

Anthony Tenorio scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the third to give CMNI an early 1-0 lead. Ryan Ada hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth for CMNI's lone extra-base hit.

Ushijima allowed four hits and a run in three innings, with winning pitcher Hernandez and Shiroma each working an inning.

Hilo will play South representative Cartersville, Ga., today (2 p.m. Hawai'i time). The other teams in Pool A are Saipan Little League (Asia Pacific), Surrey, British Columbia (Canada) and host Brewer & Orrington, Maine.