More than a decade removed from his BIIF baseball career, Shannon Camero’s swing is sweeter than ever.
So sweet and in tune that he noticed even the smallest imprecision Sunday, shouting an expletive just after making contact on a double to deep left on a ball that he thought should have been hammered for a home run.
Camero was the man Sunday at Wong Stadium, powering the veteran Keaukaha Warriors to a 10-4 victory against the youthful Big Island Baseball’s Hawaiians in the opener of the Hawaii AJA Memorial Baseball League playoffs, but he had someone to answer to afterward.
“Daddy, why you say a bad word out there?” young Matyx Camero asked.
“Daddy shouldn’t have said that,” Shannon said. “Daddy was excited.”
Lest any of the BIIF players on Hawaiians get impatient with their swings, there was Camero, a 2003 Waiakea graduate, showing them that they have plenty of time to improve as he stroked the ball all over Wong Stadium. Of his four hits, three went for doubles.
“My swing has definitely gotten better with time,” Camero said. “I’m more consistent. I don’t practice as much, but I understand my swing a lot more. You can’t beat experience, and the older you get the more you understand your swing. You can make your adjustments on the fly.”
The youngsters on Hawaiians are well-schooled under the tutelage of hitting guru Kaha Wong, but Keaukaha’s Mikey Inaba survived a rocky first inning in which he allowed three runs, taming their bats through eight innings.
Kamehameha’s Aidan AhHee was a thorn in his side, belting a triple, double and an RBI single, but Inaba struck out five, mixing in a splitter to retire the last nine batters he faced.
“Us ‘old’ guys, we come a little late so we don’t warm up as good as we should,” said Inaba, a 2007 Waiakea graduate. “As the game goes on, I warm up a little bit more.”
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is 10 a.m. next Sunday at Wong. The winner advances to the state tournament, set for April 9-10 at Wong.
Keith Aoki, the oldest player on the field at 54, drove in two runs, and in the seventh inning Troy Fujii coaxed a walk from his son, Brett.
Kamehameha’s Justyce Ishii pitched four innings and took the loss for the Hawaiians, who edged out the veteran Waiakea Pirates during the regular season to reach the championship series.
“They have a lot of potential, and that’s why they’re here,” Camero said. “They worked hard and this is just a learning experience for them, playing against us.
“That’s what we’re trying to do. Give them a good look for the (BIIF) and hoping they can give us a good look for the state tournament.”
Hilo’s High Chase Costa-Ishii briefly tied the game in the sixth with a single to follow AhHee’s triple.
After driving in two with a double in the third inning, Camero’s double in the sixth gave the Warriors a 5-4 lead, and he doubled to lead off the ninth as Keaukaha tacked on four runs.
Inaba finished with three hits, two for RBI singles, Chase Komatsu, a member of Waiakea’s 2012 HHSAA championship team, was 3 for 5 and Waiakea graduate Alton Penrose singled twice.
“It’s good to see the younger guys play,” said Inaba, who had no reservations about waking up on what could have been a lazy Sunday morning and torquing his arm by throwing curveballs. “I look forward to Sundays because I get to play baseball. I love baseball.”
