Hilo’s Mustang 9 falls at PONY regional
Simi Valley edged Hilo 9-8 in the West regional at Walnut, Calif., for ages 9-10, on Friday.
Hilo will play Hart on Saturday in an elimination game.
Through his Hui Aumakua club team, coach Shon Malani has churned out five state champions. His current group won a pair of Pinto titles last season in player-pitch and coach-pitch. An older group also won the Mustang 9s title in 2013 and the Broncos 11 crown last season.
His Mustang 9 is the only Big Island team to qualify for regionals.
Big Island golfers in swing of things
Hilo’s Nainoa Calip added another notch to his belt at Oahu Country Club.
Calip teamed with fellow UH-Manoa alum Jared Sawada to win the Nike Four-Ball Championship on Wednesday, defeating a pair of former UH-Hilo golfers in the final at OCC.
Calip and Sawada beat Corey Kozuma and Chris Shimomura 3 and 2, pocketing $1,500 apiece in match that featured 24 birdies. Calip and Sawada were at 10-under when the match ended at No. 16. In Four-Ball, each team’s best score on a hole counts toward match play.
The winners are both former champions of the Manoa Cup, which is held at OCC. On Tuesday, they bested TJ Kua and Todd Rego 1-up. In the semifinals, they eliminated Juan Rodriguez and Jason Jakovac 3 and 2.
Calip, a Kamehameha-Hawaii graduate and three-time BIIF champion, won the Manoa Cup in 2014 and followed that a up a few months by winning the Oahu Country Club Invitational.
• Waiakea graduate Britney Yada shot a 1-under 71 on Friday and was tied for 29th after the first round of the Symetra Tour’s Firekeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, Mich.
In a field of 156, Laura Gonzalez Escallon (65) led the way, using seven birdies for a one-shot lead.
• Keaau’s Dillon Ah Chong and Hilo’s Mari Ebersole each qualified last Saturday at a Drive Putt & Chip sub-regional held at Oahu’s Kapolei Golf Course.
Ah Chong won the boys 14-15 division, scoring twice in all three disciplines. His longest drive cleared 210 yards.
Ebersole was the only competitor in the girls 14-15. She cleared 190 with two drives.
Ah Chong and Ebersole advance to regionals in September and a chance to reach the finals, which will be conducted the Sunday before the 2017 Masters at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club.
Jimmy Yagi camp moves to UHH Gym
The Jimmy Yagi Summer Hoops Camp will move to the UH-Hilo Gym because of Tropical Storm Darby. Hoopsters should report at 8 a.m. Tuesday, July 26, for registration and the opening day of the camp.
The new venue will replace Hilo Civic, which has been reserved for another event that must be postponed to protect attendees from the anticipated impacts of Tropical Storm Darby.
For more information, contact Jason Armstrong at 961-8311 or jarmstrong@hawaiicounty.gov.
Volleyball officials, coaches clinic
Brian Hemelgarn, one of the nation’s top volleyball officials and clinicians, will hold an officials clinic Aug. 10-14. It will benefit all levels of interested officials and coaches.
Classes will be held weekdays from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at UH-Hilo classroom UCB 100, and Saturday at 8:30 a.m. at Waiakea High gym.
For more information contact Mark Osorio at biroots14@yahoo.com or 959-9474.
