It was going to be an early wake-up call either way, but Hilo coach Shon Malani left little to chance, showing up at 6:15 a.m. Saturday for his All-Star team’s pivotal game at the state PONY League tournament.
With the extra preparation time came a premonition. Malani expected trouble against Kauai, but as the Hilo Pony 13s started serving the ball to all corners of Walter Victor complex and Shane Sale-Silva racked up strikeouts, his forewarning became a distant memory.
“I had a feeling something was in the making, and I prepared them,” Malani said after Hilo turned an early three-run deficit into a 13-6 victory to take command of the four-team, double-elimination field. “Adversity is good for these kids. A lot of them are new faces for me. I wanted to see how they would react.”
They acted like they’re more than comfortable at this stage, and after a second win in as many days Hilo gets a day off before returning Monday with two chances to win the championship against the survivor of the loser’s bracket.
“We can’t be too confident,” said Sale-Silva, who struck out nine in five innings, “but I am confident that we are going to win.”
Every starter in the lineup contributed to Hilo’s 15-hit onslaught, whether it be Brayden Malani (2 for 4) at the top or Isaiah Justo (3 for 4) at the bottom.
Sale-Silva’s two-run double in the third put Hilo ahead and Kaohu Kawelu hit a two-run double down the right field line in the fourth after Kolten McCallum and Justo opened the inning with singles. Justo drove in two runs, and Legend Lancaster, Dominic Christensen and Sale-Silva had two hits apiece. Journey Leialoha sparked a two-run rally in the seventh with a double.
“I had no doubts that we were going to hit,” Sale-Silva said.
Hilo scored in every inning but the first, when it didn’t look like it was going to be its day.
Kauai struck for three runs in the bottom half of the inning on a combination of soft singles, a walk and an error, but Sale-Silva found his zone, only running into trouble again in the fourth, when he wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam by inducing a comebacker.
“Once he caught his groove, the kid has a really special arm,” Shon Malani said. “It’s just a matter of steering him.”
Edinn Kitagawa pitched the sixth, allowing a run, and Loren Iwata struck out the side in the seventh.
Xailer Duarte had three hits for Kauai, which beat Mililani 13-2 on Friday and will play the Central Oahu team again Sunday for a spot opposite Hilo in the final. In an elimination game Saturday, Mililani edged Aiea 5-4.
Sale-Silva isn’t eligible to pitch again, but Malani can use McCallum, Friday’s starter in a 12-0 win against Kauai, and Kawelu, the team’s closer, hasn’t pitched yet.
“The pieces we picked up this year, I really see potential, especially the arms,” said Malani, who has guided Hilo teams to state PONY titles in all manner of age groups (11, 9s, 8-under).
This group would be his oldest and perhaps his finest.
“This team I think is the most compete as far as starting pitching and bridges to the closer and a lineup that puts the ball in play from 1-9,” he said.