Hilo Pinto eliminated from state PONY tourney
Hilo Pinto eliminated from state PONY tourney
Mililani capitalized on Hilo’s miscues to win 9-6 in the Pinto coach-pitch division at the state PONY baseball tournament on Monday.
With the semifinal win, Mililani advances to the championship on Tuesday and would have to beat Maui twice for the state Pinto (ages 7-8) title at Central Oahu Regional Park.
It was the fifth game in four days for Hilo, which suffered two losses over consecutive days in different fashions.
The previous day Maui had to earn its victory. But on the Fourth of July, Hilo committed three errors in one inning and surrendered five runs to Mililani.
Hilo led 4-3 after four innings, but a shaky fifth helped Mililani take an 8-4 lead, enough of a cushion in a six-inning contest.
“What we learned today was that when facing good teams, you can’t give them extra outs,” Hilo coach Cliff Silva said. “The experience gained will be an asset to these kids as they continue their baseball journey.
“The one thing that this worked on was our mental toughness. Mental toughness comes gift-wrapped in failure and struggle. We wanted to see how the kids would respond after losing a close game (on Sunday). We need to continue to trust the process and let the kids know that we will lose a lot on our way to success. Just make sure to pull lessons out of it.”
If Silva sounds like a teacher, that’s because he is. He’s a teacher at Waiakea High.
“I think baseball is a great way to teach life lessons,” he said. “So I always try and hook up learning with baseball.”
Members of the team are Cole Silva, Teysen Tamiya, Kaoni Kendrick, Boston Kobayashi, Jaydan Borling-Lewi, Zian Wery, Slim Ha-Ahu, Kameron Agpalza, Madi Waiki, Kealoha Kepoo-Sabate, and JD Hironaka.
Head coach Cliff Silva’s assistants are Desmond Wery, Duke Waiki, and Gayne Kobayashi.
Sunday
Maui 9, Hilo 8: The Valley Isle rallied from a three-run deficit and pulled out a walk-off win in the bottom of the sixth with two out.
Down 8-5 in the fourth, Maui tied it 8-8 in the bottom of the fifth and produced a dramatic comeback in the last frame.
In the sixth with two out, Maui singled to center, but the ball took an unexpected bounce over the Hilo outfielder’s head.
The runner advanced to second, and the next hitter singled to center, again, to score the game-winner.
Southside keeps rolling at nationals
The Southside Volleyball Club is making a serious run at another junior national championship, blowing away the MVPs from Maryland and a Fear club from Arizona.
At the USAV Boys Junior National Championships in Dallas, the Southside 17s defeated Ohio’s Southport 25-14, 25-22, again; MVP White of Maryland 25-17, 25-15; and Arizona Fear White 25-20, 22-25, 15-6 on Sunday.
Southside is now 6-0 in pool play at the national tourney, which concludes Wednesday.
In 2013, Southside, run by Kamehameha coach Guy Enriques, won the 14s national crown.
The 17s edition is headlined by several Kamehameha starters including twins Addie and Avery Enriques, Naia Makuakane, Kameron Moses, Nalu Kahapea, and Jarvis Benito.