All of the Hilo Bronco All-Stars walked confidently to the plate, and most brought a neon orange bat with them.
All of the Hilo Bronco All-Stars walked confidently to the plate, and most brought a neon orange bat with them.
To the opposing pitcher, it must have seemed as if they were wielding Thor’s hammer, but in all actuality it was an Easton.
The cost, upwards of $250, is pricey
The benefit, another state PONY League title, was priceless.
Hilo manhandled the eight-team field for the third consecutive year, finishing with a 10-0 victory against Windward on Tuesday at Walter Victor Stadium to claim the ages 11-12 division for the fourth time in five years.
“It’s not the bats, it’s the person,” Safae Mauai said.
And many people have contributed to what can be considered a PONY dynasty.
Coach Chris Honda, Emergency Medical Services Captain with the County of Hawaii Fire Department, can now go back to saving lives, at least until the Western regional next month. Assistant coach Leonard Paik said Honda is pretty good at nurturing lives as well.
“Almost to the year, he recognized these players,” Paik said. “The nucleus of this team has been getting high reps in terms of batting. At a typical practice, they take at least 100 swings.”
Windward left-hander Fabian Silva-Pokipala was overpowering when he hit his spots, retiring 10 of 12 batters via strikeouts. When he didn’t locate, he was hit hard, allowing seven extra-base hits. Kalai Rosario hit his second home run of the tournament, a three-run blast, Zakaia Michaels roped a double off the fence and had another one to drive in a run in the fourth and Mauai tripled and added a two-run double to finish with three RBIs.
“They can hit the fastball,” Windward coach Ryan Lizama said. “The whole lineup can hit the fastball well.”
Braxton Cagampang, the No. 8 hitter, had at least two hits in all four games.
Windward rode momentum into the final after remaining alive with two TKO victories Sunday and then edging Aiea 11-10 on Monday. But Hilo has a way off making the final anticlimactic. It won by TKO to cap a 4-0 run for the third year in a row and didn’t even need 90 minutes to do so.
“Fabian left the ball a little high. They are a very disciplined team,” Lizama said.
Kobe Kagimoto doubled to lead off the second and Rosario’s home run gave Hilo a 6-0 lead. Silva-Pokipala struck out the side in the third, but Cagampang, Michaels and Mauai each doubled in the fourth and Nainoa Kane-Yates’s RBI single made the score 10-0.
Hanalei Warren, a seventh-grader at Kamehameha, turned in a two-hitter with six strikeouts. He went 0 for 3 but still left with three home run balls in the tournament.
“We made it look so easy because hard work pays off,” said Mauai, an eighth-grader at Waiakea Intermediate.
Perhaps Hilo will need to play more small-ball when regionals start July 30 in Whittier, Calif. It’s fallen short in its three previous tries.
“The best part is we get to miss school,” said Kane-Yates, an eighth-grader at Hilo Intermediate.
There was simply no need to dabble much in bunts and hit-and-runs at states. Honda, who followed in the footsteps of Eric Kurosawa (2011), Lenn Miyao (2013) and Marvin Min (2014) as Hilo Bronco coaches to win states, praised his hitters for following a plan.
It was more like a flight plan. Hilo outscored the opposition 46-13 and outhomered its foes 10-0.
“We’re able to do that (small-ball) if we have to,” Paik said. “We practice it. But if if we can score the way we’re going, let it go, let if fly.”
The Big Island has won multiples state PONY titles each of the past three years, and Hilo Pinto, Mustang and Pony teams still have a chance to try and equal the Broncos’ hitting prowess at state tournaments on Maui.
Asked how he would pitch to his teammates, Warren, said, “More curveballs, especially to this guy,” pointing to Mauai.
Mauai’s response: “I would rake you.”
Confidence and a neon orange bat go along way.