Buffanblu appear
to have plenty more
to come for next season

For those not wearing buff and blue, the scary part is yet to come.

The Punahou Buffanblu have more live arms than any other team in the state -- so many weapons waiting to be unleashed on the mound that they remained in the long shadows of Jared Pate and Karl Graves.

Punahou's state championship win over Kailua on Saturday capped a season of excellence. The Buffanblu wore the Star-Bulletin Top 10's No. 1 ranking for all but one week.

While Punahou collected all nine first-place ballots, as expected, Kailua and Waiakea occupied the next two spots in the poll. Kailua spent much of the season on the cusp of the Top 10, thanks in large part to a midseason lull that included consecutive losses in the tough Oahu Interscholastic Association East.

Waiakea, though, was the most surprising team of the state tourney, barely losing to Punahou 3-2 in the semifinal round. Tom Correa's teams have been among the elite in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation for more than a decade now. Voters lifted the Warriors four positions to No. 3.