Editor’s note: This story was modified to fix a redundant quote.
Pitchers Eyshen Kitagawa, Ty Haraguchi and Brycen Abe did their jobs, but Hilo couldn’t do its as a whole.
The Pinto All-Stars fell behind early Thursday in dropping their opener at the player-pitch PONY West Zone tournament, 5-3 to a team from Northern California in San Jose, Calif.
A few untimely errors put Hilo in 4-0 deficit in the first inning, forcing the ages 7-8 team to battle uphill the rest of the game.
“In the last inning, we had a couple of opportunities to win the game, (but) we fell short,” coach Loren Tsugawa said. “We had a chance and it made for an exciting game, and that’s all you can ask for.”
Hilo plays an elimination game Friday.
• Hilo draws a bye Friday as the state Junior League tournament begins at Walter Victor complex.
Waipio, Oahu, and Maui play at 11:30 a.m. Friday, with the winner facing Hilo at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Friday’s other game matches Honolulu and Kauai at 2:30 p.m.
Some members of Hilo’s ages 14-and-under team were on the Little League team that won the 2017 state title.
Golf
Hilo’s Lacey Uchida shot at 1-over 73 for her best round at the junior world championships in the San Diego area, but at 16-over 232 she missed the cut to make the final round in the girls 15-18 division.
In the boys 13-14 division, Waikoloa’s Ethan Jaehn and Hilo’s Dysen Park each carded 75s in the final round. Jaehn tied for 50th at 223, while Park was another two shots back.
Hilo’s Jake Otani (90) finished at 263 in boys 9-10, and Noah Miyazono (92) was at 281.
