By KEVIN JAKAHI Editor’s note: This story first appeared at www.hawaii tribune-herald.com ADVERTISING By KEVIN JAKAHI Tribune-Herald sports writer Hawaii Stars old-timers Dane Sardinha and Dallas Mahan are still going strong, like a pair of trucks with over 200,00 miles
Editor’s note: This story first appeared at www.hawaii
tribune-herald.com
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
Hawaii Stars old-timers Dane Sardinha and Dallas Mahan are still going strong, like a pair of trucks with over 200,00 miles and engines seemingly built to last forever.
However, they couldn’t stop Hawaii’s slide, a 9-6 loss to Na Koa Ikaika Maui in a Pacific Association baseball game Friday night at Wong Stadium.
Sardinha, Hawaii’s 34-year-old catcher, went 0 for 1 and left the game early with a minor leg strain. Mahan, 35, didn’t pitch but watched the Stars continue their tailspin against Maui.
Hawaii has lost the lead in the first four games of the six-game series. The Stars have dropped five straight and six of seven overall — all during a season-opening 12-game homestead.
“We have to learn how to play with the lead and with confidence, and how to hold onto a lead and rally behind each other,” Mahan said.
The game between the Stars (2-8) and Na Koa Ikaika (8-2) on Saturday night ended after the Tribune-Herald’s deadline.
Ronnie Loeffler (0-1, 4.90) is scheduled to pitch today in the series finale at 1:30 p.m. at Wong.
In honor of Waiakea graduates Onan Masaoka, Loeffler and Michael Kenui, fans wearing Warriors apparel will get in for half price.
On a Friday night that blew only a slight breeze, Eri “Knuckle Princess” Yoshida couldn’t make her knuckleball float like a butterfly and lasted 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision. She gave up six runs on four hits and two walks.
Matt Stropoli, who threw much harder but with less success, went five innings in the loss before a hometown crowd of about 200 fans. He allowed nine runs (two unearned) on six hits and five walks, losing a 4-3 lead when Maui exploded for five runs in the fourth inning.
Glenn Walker batted 2 for 5 and Katsuaki Furuki went 1 for 4 with three RBIs to lead the Stars, who were held to five hits.
Jeremy Williams went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and Kalaika Kahoohalahala was 2 for 5 with two RBIs to power Maui. Hawaii pitchers have yet to figure out how to extinguish Waylen Sing Chow (2 for 4). In four games, the Maui center fielder is torching the Stars, going 9 for 18.
Lack of hitting is something Sardinha described as his only regret, in a half-joking manner, in a pro career that started in 2000. He was a second-round pick in the Major League Baseball draft by the Cincinnati Reds that year.
The MLB draft concludes today, bringing back memories for Sardinha and Mahan, who was picked in the 35th round by the Seattle Mariners in 1996.
Sardinha’s brothers were also drafted; Bronson was a first-round pick of the New York Yankees in 2001 and youngest brother Duke a 19th-round selection by the Colorado Rockies in 2002. Bronson is now working in construction and Duke is a rigger at Pearl Harbor Shipyard on Oahu.
“I wish I saw the baseball better and I wish I hit like Bronson,” said Sardinha, who batted .166 in parts of six seasons for the Reds, Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies in 151 at-bats. “Bronson had a knack for hitting. If I had a bat like that with the way I catch, I’d be set.”
He also made MLB draft history. He was the first drafted catcher to get a major league contract. The deal guaranteed him $1.9 million.
“I bought a house in Kailua. That’s the best investment you can make,” said Sardinha, who signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles last year, but had the contract voided when he injured his elbow.
He picked up work as a stevedore, a well-paying job during offseasons. But before he heads into a career off the field, Sardinha plans to exhaust every opportunity to get back into a major league organization.
“I’m going to give it one last hurrah and get it out of my system,” he said. “I don’t want to think a year from now or two years that I should have tried.”
Like recent Waiakea graduate Kean Wong, who credited his dad Kaha Wong for sharpening him as a ballplayer and was drafted Friday, Sardinha did the same with his father, Dexter.
“It’s something we did. It was part of our upbringing with my dad,” Sardinha said. “We’d always go out to the field, the whole family, while other kids did other sports or went to the beach. That part of the game he instilled in us.
“When we all got drafted it was more so of a big deal because we were out of Hawaii. And we were three Hawaii kids who were brothers.”
Mahan’s at-bat
When the Stars’ No. 3 starter and pitching coach was drafted, he posed a question to the Seattle Mariners. He was born in South Dakota and was selected out of Greeley West High in Colorado. It wasn’t a geography question, but a career one.
“When Seattle called on the second day, I asked as a pitcher or hitter. The scout said pitcher,” Mahan said. “The scout saw me at a game where I hit two homers. It was funny because I like the color blue. Seattle had the teal and it was a blessing to spend 3 1/2 years with them.
“They never give you a reason when they release you. But I had minor shoulder surgery and was a late-rounder. But I have no regrets. I’ve gone to places all over the world through baseball, Japan, the Dominican Republic, Canada, and covered most of the states and all the people I’ve come across. We’re in Hawaii playing baseball. Not too many people are able to do that.”
Mahan is 0-0 with a 3.14 ERA, posting two quality starts, going at least seven innings and surrendering three runs or less, but falling short of his own historic mark.
The 6-foot-3 Mahan is 49-44 in 12 seasons of independent pro ball. That 50th win seems to be avoiding him like a knuckleball. He was 0-7 with a 3.54 ERA for the Stars last season.
Then the wise-old veteran offered a summation that covered the bases on his chase for his 50th win and Hawaii’s little tailspin.
“When it’s right, it will come in time,” he said. “That’s how baseball works.”
