Very interesting first day at state baseball
May 8th, 2008 by WesAs usual, I was really looking forward to the first day of the baseball state tournament. And as usual, it did not disappoint.
Great action all day, in all four games.
Here are some thoughts on each one:
• Kamehameha-Hawai‘i 4, Kailua 2: Good job by Blake Amaral limiting a usually explosive Surfriders team to six hits, including only one for extra bases. No Kailua player had more than one. Pretty good job by Surfriders freshman Ryan McMonigle, also; definitely an experience he will draw upon in the future. Good patience shown by a young Warriors team, which did not give up and capitalized on Kailua mistakes when it counted.
And a final note — some of the called strikes in the top of the seventh for the Surfriders did look a tad outside (I was sitting about five rows up behind the batter’s box). But at the same time, when you’re down to the final three outs, I guess you have to protect the plate with tw strikes and not leave it in the umpires hands.
• Roosevelt 3, Castle 2: I like the spirit of the Rough Riders, especially after watching them get blanked by Pearl City, 10-0 in five innings, just two weeks ago in the OIA quarterfinals. That made every game since a “do-or-die” situation, and Roosevelt is 3-0 under that pressure. I’m also even more impressed with Kelton Okimoto than I was the first time against Castle, although he gave up only three hits and one that time as opposed to eight hits and two runs on Wednesday. He hides the ball well in his delivery, so his otherwise average fastball sneaks up on batters who can’t pick it up as earl as they would like. Okimoto also showed some fortitude in the seventh, when he admitted his arm “was hanging.”
Another hard-luck loss for Pulama Silva, who got his sharp-breaking curve under control after a rocky start and also pitched a good game.
And a final note — I like the Rough Riders’ attitude heading into Thursday’s quarterfinal against four-time defending champ Punahou: “We’re just gonna try our best and have fun,” Okimoto said.
Nothing to lose, so go for broke …
• Saint Louis 7, Baldwin 0: Josh Saio pitched a hell of a game, but the Crusaders also solved its recent defensive problems, at least for one day — zero errors. “Defense wins championships,” Saio said. “We had to learn that the hard way.”
Saint Louis also appears to have flushed out all the other mistakes made last week, executing well. They still had some curious base running, but that’s part of what makes them dangerous and unpredictable. “We knew we had to come out and be hungry again,” Saio said. “It started with this first game. We wanted to get this out of the way.”
Baldwin is young, and I expect to see them back in this tournament the next couple years. Sophomore pitcher Brock Shishido — Kahai’s son — got some battle scars but overall did a decent job against a terrific offensive team. Holding Saint Louis to eight hits is not bad. I also was impressed with sophomore shortstop Jordan Negrini, offensively and defensively.
And a final note — With none of the Crusaders having an state tournament experience, that was one question mark going in. Consider it answered, emphatically.
• Mid-Pacific 3, ‘Aiea 1: Ditto regarding state tourney experience for the Owls; they looked very confident from the beginning against a tough pitcher. But Coach Dunn Muramaru has been in enough of these tournaments to know how to prepare his team.
Dane Kinoshita was outstanding; he might be one of the state’s most underrated pitchers. Randy Castillo again struggled with command, but the kid definitely has a lot of guts and can pull through in tough situations. That’s what must make him intriguing to scouts: He obviously has great stuff, but he will sometimes labor, labor, labor, and then just when you think he’s done he’ll come up with three great pitches in a row for a strikeout with men on base.
Fantastic catches in the Na Ali‘i outfield by Keenan Naeole in right and Ricky Itagaki in center, otherwise MPI might have blown the game open.
But as always, Coach Ryan Kato has built a culture of hustle and making plays at ‘Aiea. This will keep Na Ali‘i a perennial contender, in my opinion.
And a final note — The Owls have another big challenge in the quarterfinals against Pearl City, but are still in good shape with Matthew McDaniel rested and ready.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:39 am
if Maryknoll (0-14 regular season) wins DII tournament….
May 8th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Wes-
Solid coverage! Keep it up.
Speaking of which- what’s todays latest scores?
May 8th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
notes:
I sounded that horn back in the regular season.
Go Saints.
On to the Semis…
May 8th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Seems you guys forgot about the DII tournamnent, I know these kids are DII but there are some pretty good ball players playing for small schools that deserve a little recongition as well.
May 9th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
You guys who vote on the top ten are a joke. Again, how can you have a division 2 team be ranked or even be considered in the top ten in the state? Waipahu? This shows your credibility or knowledge of high school baseball. Waipahu can’t even win in the consolation bracket of the division 2 state tournament and you guys rank them in the top ten in the state? These division 2 teams wouldn’t stand a chance against a team like Mililani who came in last in the OIA west or even McKinley. There is a reason why they are in division 2 so don’t humiliate the other division 1 teams by ranking them (division 2 teams) higher. Waipahu proved you guys wrong so think twice before you come out with the final top ten rankings.
May 11th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
off topic
Disturbing that Pahoa HS is having trouble raising funds for state VB tournament.
Why do neighbor island schools have to raise funds in the first place? Majority of tournaments are on Oahu so OIA and ILH schools usually get the free ride. Meanwhile neighbor island schools and parents have to come up with travel money in most years.
May 13th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Went to a lot of the games. Had some really good games, but the best was the Punahou / Roosevelt game. By far the most entertaining. Roosevelt almost knocked off the big boys and I mean big in both ways compared to Roosevelt size wise. Looking at Roosevelt’s roster it was an under 6′-0″ team. I think most of them were 5′-5″ or less. Goes to show you size doesn’t matter. Impressed with 2b, 3b, SS and centerfielder. Punahou hit some shots at 3b and SS and they made the plays look routine. Punahou’s SS was having a hard time, heard he was a 2 time all stater. Looks like he has some minor flaws in his fielding, surprised coaches didn’t work out the kinks with him. Looks like simple fixes. He looks like he has the size and athletic ability to be an excellent SS. Also saw Waiakea’s 1b hit some bombs. Took one out in center and also hit the top of the left field wall into a strong wind. Very enjoyable weekend of baseball.
May 13th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Good job covering the first-ever D-II tournament in your comments… oh, guess you didn’t. But, hey, the umpires didn’t really show up, either. Just guys in blue armed with darts and guesses. Nor did the light bulbs in the scoreboards out at CORP. Or the souvenir t-shirts. Or any official game scorers. Or anyone handling PA responsibilities. Maybe no one knew seven teams and their fans from other islands were traveling here to compete in a state tournament — because whatever it was that the HHSAA put on out at CORP last week was more like a weekend recreational softball tournament — without the suds, of course. What a bummer. But it was nice that the Kauai Red Raiders — the first-ever D-II state baseball champ — got totally ignored by the Cartwright Cup gang. Hey, give the coach a Coors instead — he probably needed one, and more!
May 14th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I was at all four DI games, so I commented on what I saw. I would not feel comfortable commenting on four games of which I did not see one pitch.
But in the bigger picture, regarding your other issues with DII, it seems that many people have quickly forgotten that Division II state tournaments are a privilege, not a God-given right.
There’s no law, not even a National High School Federation rule, that says every state MUST have a separate DII tournament.
The DII tournaments only exist because there was a push by some for several years to have a separate DII FOOTBALL state championship, which finally materialized in 2003.
Mainly for gender equity reasons, DII tournaments for softball and girls basketball were added that same school year. Then to satisfy others, more DII tourneys were added every year until finally there was DII baseball this season.
I’m sure everything was not perfect, but again DIVISION II TOURNAMENTS ARE A PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT.
As we have seen with Pahoa boys volleyball this week, these tournaments are not free and come with a big price tag picked up by the HHSAA and the individual schools. I believe the games at CORP came with free admission, so certainly the fans did not pay for umpires, scorekeepers or a PA system and announcer.
These DII tournaments were created to give kids from schools that normally would not have an opportunity to play in a state tournament, to play in one.
But just to use an example, Kalaheo won an OIA baseball championship in 1984 and also played in the state tournament from 1992 to 1994, reaching the title game in 1994.
So I’m not sure if this was the type of school — one that already has a history of state tourney opportunities — the DII creators had in mind when pushing for this change.
Yet, due to the system in place, this year’s Kalaheo players got to enjoy the excitement of tournament competition when in past years they would be at home watching like everybody else.
If people remembered that DII — heck, even playing high school sports in general — is a privilege, not a right (something that has been established in court several times), then maybe they will have a different perspective.
May 14th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Castle Silva look good!
Aiea Castillo looked sharp. Struggled with Command? Three errors listed, I seen at least 5. Two great plays in the outfield though. But 3 hits!! typical 08 Aiea baseball.