Shane Sale-Silva’s power arm was the story Sunday for the Hilo Pony 13s, but on another day it could be the All-Stars’ bats that stand out.
Coach Shon Malani has brought good PONY teams to the mainland before that could hit and pitch, but what sticks out about this group is his 13-year-olds’ baseball IQ.
“Their situational play is key,” Malani said. “A lot of stuff you can teach, but these guys know what play to make before it happens. You can see it on the field. Their reaction time is quick.”
You could say they’ve become worldly – and that could come in handy in their next assignment.
Hilo completed a dominant run through the West Zone tournament in Whittier, Calif., with a 12-0 victory against San Diego, and Malani, his players and their parents will stay put and await the start of the World Series on Friday. Hilo will play Mexico.
“This team has really piled together,” Malani said, “and to see it happen has been a special experience.
“Hopefully, we can take the next step.”
Malani said he was informed before the tournament that two teams would advance to the World Series, a trip Hilo secured Saturday. This is the first time a Malani-coached team has reached the World Series in seven tries, and Hilo secured Malani’s first regional title Sunday and the higher seed that goes with it.
His pioneering bunch, he said, is rooted in strong baseball families: Legend Lancaster, Kaohu Kawelu, Braden Malani and Liwai Correa, just to name a few.
“They’ve been playing so long baseball becomes a natural instinct,” Malani said.
Sunday’s battle of 3-0 teams was more of the same for Hilo, which outscored it opposition at West Zone 48-14, becoming the first Hilo PONY team to reach a World Series since Stacey Jarneski’s Pony (14-under) team won it all in 2014.
Sale-Silva sailed through four innings, striking out eight and never letting a runner get past second base.
“You could tell by the second inning they were struggling against him,” Malani said.
Sale-Silva and Dominic Christensen each had two hits for Hilo, which didn’t hammer the ball as hard as they did Saturday in an 18-8 win against Eastlake, Calif., but still managed to knock San Diego out in the fifth inning. Kawelu pitched the fifth.
Malani said he’d give his players and parents two days to rest away from the baseball field – perhaps mixing in a trip to Knott’s Berry Farm amusement park.
“It’s been a grind,” Malani said.
It will be again.
Sale-Silva, with two wins already under his belt in Whittier, likely will get the start against Mexico, and Kolten McCallum will be ready to go Saturday in the eight-team, double-elimination field.
“The pitching staff I love and we seem to be peaking with the bats,” Malani said.
Best of all, baseball IQ knows no slumps.
Saturday
There were a few tense moments after Hilo scored 10 runs in the first inning, but the All-Stars couldn’t have started faster in overwhelming Eastlake, Calif., 18-8, to ensure themselves a spot at the World Series.
We hit the crap out of the ball,” Malani said. “Triple, single, triple. It just went from there.”
There were no shortage of hitting standouts.
Braden Malani collected four hits, and Dominic Christensen had four RBIs and two hits. Legend Lancaster, Kolten McCallum and Shane Sale-Silva had had three hits apiece, and Kaohu Kawelu had two.
Edinn Kitagawa started and pitched three innings. After Eastlake closed to within 14-8, Malani said Loren Iwata came in and “settled things as usual.”
Hilo put the game away with four runs in the sixth.
n Walnut, the Hilo Bronco 11s staged a rally to remember to beat Each Long Beach, but they were eliminated later in the day in a 13-1 loss to unbeaten Placentia, Calif.
“They were a good team,” coach Gavien DeMello said of Placentia. “We made too many errors.”
He said the Hilo expended a lot of of energy earlier in its 8-7 win and that’s understanble.
It was a big rally.
Hilo scored eight unanswered runs, with four two-out runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
Zian Wery hit a key two-run single, Kamren Agpalza was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and two runs scored, Kaleb Wada drove in two runs and Iokepa Martines was 2 for 4 and scored twice.
Koa Marzo scored twice and delivered three innings of shutout relief with four strikeouts.
“They were playing with pride,” DeMello said.