Kona baseball
Kona baseball
County delivers a knock down pitch
The county of Hawaii one year ago chose to convert one of West Hawaii’s baseball fields into a regulation softball field in order to accommodate the senior men’s tournament that is rotated between the islands every year. The conversion was a labor-intensive project in exchange for no more than three softball games during the tournament held in August 2011.
What’s more, the field was never returned to its original state. Although the grass, which was torn up in squares, was later replaced, the mound and its bases were not. It was and is no longer functional for hardball league purposes.
This was a on-of-a-kind field in that it functioned also as a back up for UH-Hilo Collegiate Baseball. It may or may not be coincidence the county’s plan virtually to scrap this field ran simultaneous with UH Hilo’s plan to abandon it as its backup effective 2012.
There is, however, no question it abandoned the interest of those island residents, namely the organized baseball league, Konabaseball.com, which utilized the field establishing an annual tradition that lasted for 20 years.
The Kona Baseball league served as a bridge between some high school players who chose to advance and complete at higher levels, junior colleges and so forth. But primarily it was a respite where older players, even minor league players, could come together and learn the game from one another, to resurrect the dream of playing the game they love.
One island resident who so loved baseball, Russell Simmons, donated significant funding rumored to be around $ 10,000 to bring this field up to NCAA regulation standard, with bleachers and fences to allow the public safely to watch games played there. It was later “unofficially” given his namesake, “Simmons Field,” by which it is known today.
It was also used to stage the annual Kalae Iki Youth Baseball Clinic for the island’s youth little league. This clinic for both boys and girls featured many high-profile coaches and assistants from throughout colleges and universities between California and Hawaii, along with some former major league players.
The Kona Baseball.com league secured many local businesses which support and sponsor the teams, allowing them to participate and build the league. The securing of insurance policies was also necessary to permit the league to play on the field and this obligation, along with the scheduling of umpires, score keepers and the integrity of other league responsibilities, rested on the shoulders of the commissioner of Konabaseball.com.
When the decision was made to “skin” the infield, there was confusion over how it would be handled. Would the league be allowed to continue with its schedule? It was unable to continue because of the negligence of the county to return it to its prior condition, thus cancelling the season of Konabaseball. This year, 2012 marks the first year that the league is not in operation since 1992.
Michael Sofranko
Kona