KAILUA-KONA — Every journey starts with a first step, something the Hilo Gold Mustang team has learned well.
The eastside squad, made up of 9-10 year olds with a penchant for winning state titles, started their excursion into a baseball-filled summer on Saturday, sweeping a best-of-three series against Kona’s Lil Soljahs at Old Kona Airport Park.
Hilo won the first game with a 12-1 TKO victory, and earned the spot in the PONY Baseball state tournament on Oahu from June 23-27 with their second, slightly more challenging win of the day.
“We are really looking forward to Oahu and taking on the rest of the state,” coach Shon Malani said. “It will be a lot of the same competition we have faced, but everyone is getting bigger and stronger, so we will see what happens.”
After falling in an early hole, the Hilo bats woke up to seal the sweep in the best-of-three Big Island sectional series, rallying for a 12-5 win in Game 2.
“That first game we took care of business, but I think the kids might have eaten too much Costco food between games,” Malani said with a laugh. “We came out a little bit flat. But we found our groove and were able to put the ball in play.”
Brayden Malani had the best day from the dish among the Hilo players, recording seven hits combined in the two games. His most important piece of work from the plate was a three-run inside the park homer in Game 2 that sparked the Hilo comeback.
Leadoff hitter Elijah Okano also had a solid outing, notching three hits in the first game and two in the second, scoring four runs.
On the mound, Noah Palea earned the win in Game 1. Ivor Brooks came in and got the victory in the second game.
“When they are younger, you can get away with just being able to hit, run and take advantage of the errors,” Malani said. “As the kids have been getting older, we have been putting more of a stress on our pitching staff. They were solid today.”
Malani’s squad has been together for a while, winning two state titles in Pinto (7-8 years old), and another in Mustang 9s last season. It has created a slight conundrum for the coaching staff, but one that most coaches wouldn’t mind having.
“The part I worry about is that they have had so much success at such a young age, it’s hard to keep setting the bar higher, keeping that hunger going,” Malani said. “But they love to play the game, and that’s what matters.”
Despite the team’s trend of success at the state level, Malani said they aren’t getting ahead of themselves. However, he did assure one thing.
“Everyone’s all in,” Malani said. “This is a family and we are growing and learning together. We will get to Oahu and see what happens.”
