HAWAII WINTER BASEBALL
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Honu shortstop Jonathan Tucker barehanded this high-hopper and threw while in the air, but his throw was off target.
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Honu win winter league championship
By Kyle Galdeira
Special to the Star-Bulletin
If the 3,783 fans in attendance for last night's championship game of the Hawaii Winter Baseball League are a sign of things to come, the future of minor league baseball in the Islands looks like a hit.
The enthusiastic crowd at Les Murakami Stadium last night saw the North Shore Honu pound out 14 hits en route to a 5-1 victory over the Waikiki BeachBoys. After the win was complete, the entire North Shore team sprinted onto the field and celebrated the championship.
Kailua High product Rodney Choy Foo led the Honu with two clutch RBIs, and Joe Thatcher picked up the win and Player of the Game honors after throwing 4 1/3 innings of relief, and allowing no runs and just one hit.
"It's awesome. It's the best feeling ever," Choy Foo said. "It was for the team. We worked hard this whole year. I'm happy that I got invited to the league, and it's great to play in front of the home fans."
Waikiki struck first as Mark Minicozzi gave the BeachBoys the early lead with a solo home run in the bottom half of the fourth inning. The two-out, two-strike blast from the third baseman out of the San Francisco Giants organization just cleared the right-field fence.
North Shore answered in the sixth inning, as Choy Foo plated Darren Ford, who led off the inning with an infield hit, on a fielder's choice off relief pitcher Hirotaka Egusa. The game-tying run spoiled a stellar pitching performance by BeachBoys starter Atsushi Nohmi. The lefty from the Hanshin Tigers organization struck out seven batters in five innings and did not surrender a run.
The Honu appeared ready to take the lead in the seventh frame as Drew Butera reached on a leadoff double and Xavier Paul singled to put runners at the corners with one out. But Jonathan Tucker proceeded to ground into a routine 4-6-3 double play, and Egusa skirted surrendering the lead.
But, after Waikiki failed to take the lead in its half of the inning, Choy Foo came up big again, driving in Lorenzo Cain from third with an RBI double to deep left field, and giving North Shore its first lead, 2-1. First baseman Mike Carp gave the Honu an insurance run when he knocked in Dustin Martin, who had reached on an error. Egusa was responsible for the runs, and was eventually saddled with the loss.
North Shore kept the hit parade rolling, and tacked on two runs in the ninth inning on a two-run single from Cain that gave the squad enough breathing room.
Honu starting pitcher Blake Eager lasted 4 2/3 innings and allowed just three hits, but in such a tight game, the earlier home run cost him the decision.
This season marked the return of HWB after a nine-year hiatus. In the eyes of Chairman and CEO Duane Kurisu, the league fulfilled its purpose.
"I have mixed emotions," said Kurisu. "I'm kind of sad that the season's over, and it's the first time I've ever felt that way. There's a sense of pride with the accomplishments of our staff, and with Hawaii Winter Baseball reaching beyond the shores of Hawaii. I'm really proud of the product we have on the field. We have had only positive comments from the major league clubs on the mainland and Japan."
There are two more years remaining on HWB's renewable contract with Major League Baseball, and next year Kurisu plans to hold a series of games on Maui, Kauai and the Big Island to help grow the reach of the league.
"It will give the ballplayers and coaches a different perspective of Hawaii, other than Oahu," Kurisu said. "But for right now, I'm real happy with the teams all being on one island because we've had only positive comments from the (major league) scouts who are here because it's easy to look at all the players."
Kurisu hopes that players will take more from the experience this winter than just lessons learned on the playing field.
"One of the things that I explained to the Japanese players, through an interpreter, is when it comes to playing in Hawaii, you have an advantage over your counterparts and those competing for your position. A lot of people are talented, but in moving up the ladder of baseball, the makeup of an individual is more important (because everybody has talent). When it comes to Hawaii, they're going to discover this spirit of aloha. And that is what they are going to carry with them for the rest of their lives, and what will help them become better ballplayers."
North Shore 5, Waikiki 1
North Shore |
AB |
R |
H |
BI |
Waikiki |
AB |
R |
H |
BI
|
Ford cf |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
Boucher lf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Cain rf |
5 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
Fowler cf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Martin lf |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
Young 2b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Choy Foo 2b |
5 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
Schierholtz rf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Carp 1b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Minicozzi 3b |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1
|
Butera c |
5 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
Ivany c |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Dewitt 3b |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Eastley 1b |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0
|
Paul dh |
4 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
Nelson dh |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Tucker ss |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Desmond ss |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0
|
Totals |
39 |
5 |
14 |
5 |
Totals |
29 |
1 |
4 |
1
|
North Shore |
|
|
000 |
001 |
022 |
-- |
5 |
14 |
1
|
Waikiki |
|
|
|
000 |
100 |
000 |
-- |
1 |
4 |
2
|
E--Tucker. DP--North Shore 2; Waikiki 1. LOB--North Shore 10; Waikiki 3. 2B--Martin 2, Choy Foo. 3B--Eastley. HR--Minicozzi. S--Martin, Ford.
North Shore |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Eager |
4 2/3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2
|
Thatcher (W, 1-0) |
4 1/3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3
|
Waikiki |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO
|
Nohmi |
5 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7
|
Egusa (L, 0-1) |
2 1/3 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
2
|
Johnston |
1 2/3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0
|
Umpires--Dan Bellino (plate), Jordan Baker (first), Aaron Banks (second), Ryan Arisato (third).
T--2:42. A--3,783.