[ HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL ]
Combo team’s win
complicates D-II
The Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II softball race is not as simple as it appears.
The combined Hawaii Baptist AcademySt. Andrew's PriorySt. Francis team beat University 4-2 yesterday to take a 1 1/2-game lead for the league's only berth in the inaugural D-II state tournament Feb. 13-14.
With just one game left on its schedule, HBASASF (7-6) is assured of at least a tie for the best ILH D-II record, but because it's a combination team, it isn't eligible for state tournament competition.
It gets more complicated. The team can still qualify for the states, according to ILH softball coordinator Dave Blanchette. To do so, it must remove players from Hawaii Baptist and St. Andrew's Priory and then beat University (5-7) in a playoff game. The date of that playoff game hasn't been announced.
Eleven of the HBASASF players are from St. Francis, three are from Hawaii Baptist and one is from St. Andrew's Priory, according to coach Aiko Okamura.
University's final two regular-season games are against Iolani tomorrow and Mid-Pacific on Tuesday. HBASASF's last regular-season contest is against Punahou tomorrow.
Blanchette thinks the ILH, the Hawaii Interscholastic Athletic Directors Association and the Hawaii High School Athletic Association should work together to change the rule and allow HBASASF to make the states in the future.
Last June, HIADA and the HHSAA voted to allow other combination teams, such as Pac-Five of the ILH, Pac-Three of the Maui Interscholastic League and charter schools who draw athletes from various districts, to be eligible for state tournament appearances starting this school year.
"This is the missing piece of the puzzle to make it all complete and include everybody," Blanchette said. "They've created Division II state tournaments and they've made it possible for some combination teams to be in the states. I think they need to be consistent and include this combination team, too."
According to Blanchette, if HBASASF went under the Pac-Five banner, which runs most of the ILH's combination teams, it wouldn't be facing this problem.
"I just feel bad for the kids from Hawaii Baptist and St. Andrew's Priory," Okamura said. "They come to practice and work hard and it's unfortunate they won't be included."