HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
Punahou No. 1 in season's first poll
No. 2 Iolani faring well on mainland
For a few hours under the California sun, the Iolani Raiders refused to think about probabilities.
All they thought about was playing baseball. The Raiders gave the No. 1 team in the California Interscholastic Federation, Thousand Oaks (Calif.), all it could handle. Thousand Oaks, a public school with an enrollment of about 2,800, escaped with 10-7 and 9-8 wins on Sunday.
Iolani was undeterred. The Raiders pummeled Beverly Hills yesterday, 11-3, getting a win for pitcher Dustin Shitanishi.
For longtime Iolani coach Dean Yonamine, the battles with Thousand Oaks remain fresh. Yonamine played at the University of Hawaii with Frank Mutz, now the coach at Thousand Oaks. Their longtime friendship inspired Yonamine, who has coached at Iolani for 24 seasons, to take his team to the West Coast.
"Gosh, they've got six legit Division I players. Their No. 1 pitcher is being recruited by USC, and the two lefties have scholarships to Pepperdine," Yonamine said yesterday.
Today, Iolani (12-9) faces Garden Grove. The Raiders also have a No. 2 ranking in the Star-Bulletin Baseball Top 10, which makes its season debut. Kalani is also on the mainland, in the midst of a four-game trip in Arizona.
The Falcons, ranked No. 9, are 2-1 on the continent. They lost to Nevada power Bishop Gorman in a lopsided game, but trounced Tabor (Mass.) 21-4 on Sunday and outslugged Arcadia (Ariz.) 19-13 yesterday.
Arcadia played for the Arizona 4A state championship a year ago and lost only two starters to graduation.
"I was a little bit surprised," Kalani coach Shannon Hirai said of the win.
Star-Bulletin All-State first-team outfielder Ridge Carpenter had two home runs yesterday.
Veteran Pearl City coach ready for another OIA tilt
Charged up
He is a kindly gentleman, in many ways, one of the true elder statesmen of the diamond.
Melvin Seki has guided Pearl City for 15 years, and the retired school principal is having as much fun as ever. Things get more exciting tomorrow when the Chargers open Oahu Interscholastic Association action with a home game against Radford. They'll open the league slate with a No. 5 ranking in today's Star-Bulletin Baseball Top 10.
REPEAT CHAMPIONS
Schools that have won successive OIA titles
10: Waipahu |
1948-57
|
4: Kailua |
2000-03
|
4: Aiea |
1972-75
|
3: Kaiser |
1987-89
|
2: Waipahu |
1981-82
|
2: McKinley |
1976-77
|
2: Kailua |
1969-70
|
|
"Oh my goodness. Well, it's only preseason," Seki said of his team, which was a healthy 11-3 in nonconference play. Pearl City was one of only two teams to give top-ranked, two-time defending state champion Punahou a defeat.
"Mililani has the pitching staff, and Aiea has some outstanding pitchers. Waianae beat Kailua, so they're tough too," Seki said.
"It's going to be wide open again."
Early-season rankings have a way of falling by the wayside as the reality of league play sets in.
That's why Pearl City coach Melvin Seki chuckles at the notion of his squad being perched at No. 5 to start the season.
Even with a win over Punahou last week, the former Moanalua Intermediate School principal sees a gauntlet of formidable foes in the OIA West.
Seki coached Little League until retiring from the DOE at 55. Since he's been at the helm for Pearl City, which begs the obvious question: Which is more fun, being a principal or a high school coach?
"That's a no-brainer," he said, unable to constrain his laughter.