|
Further Review
Dave Reardon
|
Waipio’s young champions go from the sandlot to the spotlight
It's a neighborhood team, this world championship squad from Waipio.
Yes, a couple of kids live in Mililani (they're OK because there is no Little League Baseball in their community a few blocks up the road). And there's a boy who lives in Aiea because his family just moved from Waipio.
A lot of the guys went to elementary school together, and another cluster of them attend the same church. Their parents shop at the same Foodland, rent from the same Blockbuster. They all live in a little suburban neighborhood of a few thousand people smack in the middle of the traditionally baseball-rich area of Aiea, Pearl City and Waipahu.
That's the wonder of the Little League World Series -- it's kind of like the Jamaican track and field team ... how can so much talent come from such a small place and conquer the world?
Yes, it's natural ability. A lot of it is chemistry, too -- the kind developed by knowing your teammates from the time you were in kindergarten -- like Iolana Akau, whose teacher was Mrs. Andrade, Jedd's mom.
Yes, they're all-stars, a select team in the making over the course of years. But it came out of a six-team league, a real Little League that had a legitimate regular season of 15 games per team.
All six managers voted on the all-stars. Of course most of them would come from Timo Donahue's dominant regular-season championship team. But the former college standout and minor leaguer would still have to build a cohesive unit including other stars from around the league.
Little League's rules have evolved over the years to the point where every player must participate in every game. Rules to protect young pitching arms are stricter, making kings and jacks as important as aces.
That's why Waipio won. It was a complete team.
"That is one thing you can say, we had great pitching depth," Donahue said. "Most teams have a No. 1 and maybe a No. 2. Not many have a three and a four. We have a relief corps that's not dropping off too deep."
And how about that hitting? If it looked easy to you, take a few cuts in the 90 mph cage.
But it wasn't just the 85-pitch rule and all the clutch home runs. It comes back to fundamentals, chemistry and coaching. When Donahue had to move players around because of pitching changes and Akau's injury, Waipio didn't lose a step defensively.
"I think when we did change up the combinations it helped that we'd been together a while, two years, some guys three years," he said.
This didn't help any family's finances. There's no endorsement payoff. These kids didn't bunt very often, but their parents knew how to sacrifice.
"So we're broke right now, but we're rich in other ways," said assistant coach Kiha Akau, father of Iolana.
You say Waipahu, I say Waipio.
For the second time in four years, we all say Hawaii when the topic is Little League World Series Champions.