Opening day is always cause for celebration.

Last night's Hawaii Winter Baseball opener at Les Murakami Stadium was no exception.

There was a birthday party for a Waipio Sharks Peewee player in the newly designated zone next to the right-field bullpen.

And there was a party at the plate that the Honolulu Sharks threw for themselves in front of 821 (1,100 tickets).

Shortstop Ruben Tejada went 2-for-4, including a three-run triple in the third, and the Sharks banged out nine hits in an 8-4 victory over the Waikiki BeachBoys.

In the other opener at Hans L'Orange, the West Oahu CaneFires defeated the North Shore Honu. The same teams play at the same fields today at 1 p.m.

That his team's namesake won last night was icing on Devin Shimabukuro's baseball-themed cake. He and other Waipio Sharks hung on every pitch while hanging over the fence that separated them from pro baseball players.

Also eschewing the Hawaii-San Jose State football game to create their own doubleheader of sorts was the Cal Ripken League team from Kahaluu. Those kids beat Kailua 7-3 then enjoyed being spectators in the new green seats at Murakami.

“;The field is so big,”; Kapena Keolanui, a pitcher/first baseman for Kahaluu, said. “;It's really nice.”;

Although league officials knew it would be a tough sell going against UH football, they were pleased to launch an eighth season. The return to Murakami after a year's hiatus is expected to help attendance.

“;We want to make it kid-friendly, a family atmosphere,”; Clyde Nekoba, director of operations, said. “;We have phenomenal talent. If people come, they're going to see good baseball.”;

League CEO Duane Kurisu threw out the first pitch and tossed out a promise.

“;We're going to have a lot of fun,”; he said.

The Sharks enjoyed a big lead early, jumping ahead 8-0 after three innings. Honolulu tagged Waikiki starter Andrew Brackman, a 6-foot-10 right-hander, for three runs in the first.

Designated hitter Eric Eiland stroked a two-out, 2-2 pitch through to center to score Mike Mitchell and Darin Holcomb to highlight the scoring.

Honolulu opened the second with consecutive doubles in adding a fourth run as Jim Rapoport's shot over short drove in Greg Veloz. The Sharks doubled their lead with four runs in the third, highlighted by Tejada's bases-loaded triple.

Waikiki relievers shut down Honolulu after that, not allowing a run and just one hit after the third. The BeachBoys, meanwhile, chipped away with two runs in each of the third and fifth innings to pull to 8-4.

Waikiki threatened in the bottom of the ninth, with two runners on and no outs. But Honolulu reliever Blake King got Yuji Onizaki to fly out to short then induced Tony Thomas Jr. to hit into a game-ending double play.