Baseball

Farrington’s John Matias died Tuesday after a long illness. Here is Dave Reardon’s story for the Star-Advertiser. Matias, a former Hawaii Islanders standout who rose to the Major Leagues, was a longtime coach for Damien and Pearl City after his playing days. But it was those playing days that he was most known for in the islands. Matias hit four home runs for Farrington against Waimea in the 1962 state baseball tournament, widely regarded as one of the greatest performances […]

On this date in 1986, half of the OIA was a jumbled mess. Radford beat Leilehua 13-3 at Aloha Stadium to climb into a tie for the OIA Central crown with 11-4 records while Pearl City added to the madness by beating Waianae 5-4 to knot the Leeward race at 10-4. Gaynor Sodetani hit a grand slam to finish Radford’s victory. The Rams won the playoff with a 3-1 victory over Leilehua two days later behind Ron Hatfield‘s four-hitter and […]

On this date in 1960, Punahou shortstop Roy Soga collected three hits from the ninth spot in the order and stole four bases to help the Buffanblu batter McKinley in an ILH baseball contest. Punahou was built behind all-star pitcher Norbie Mendes, who had pitched 30 inning without allowing a run to that point. He added 3 1/3 scoreless against the Tigers in relief of George Kellerman. Punahou failed to make the state tournament when Saint Louis took the ILH […]

On this date in 1973, George Anzai‘s star-studded Aiea crew scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat last-place Pearl City 2-1. Na Alii weren’t the only favorites to need a rally. East division leader Kalani gave up four runs in the top of the first inning before blasting rival Kaiser 21-4. Aiea that year boasted of 1-2 punch Gerry Ako and Derek Tatsuno, possibly the best starting combination in state history. Ako helped bail Na […]

On this date in 1982, the OIA East was all Glen Nakama of Kaiser had. Nakama led the league in batting average, hits, home runs and RBIs. But that was only half of his contribution, as he was 10-0 with a league-leading 0.74 ERA in 48 1/3 innings. Steven Takara of Pearl City was the only hitter on Oahu who got a hit in half of his at-bats and Danny Kapea of Waipahu and Aiea’s Alan Higuchi were battling to […]

On this date in 1917, Godfrey Bergman‘s Punahou baseball team assembled during the start of Easter break with a captain already named. Pitcher Ernest “Sleepy” Baldwin, who went on to play at Hawaii and Oregon, was bestowed the honor the previous year in anticipation of taking the title from Saint Louis. It didn’t happen, though, as the Crusaders won the ILH. The season was cut short when weather left too many games left before Kamehameha’s commencement in June.

On this date in 1972, the OIA East baseball race was thrown into chaos when Calvin Shiroma, Kerry Kiyabu and Gordon Costa helped Farrington beat Kailua. The result put the Governors in a tie with the Surfriders and Kaimuki with Kalani just a half game back due to an earlier tie. The Bulldogs ended up winning the race in a playoff over Kailua behind pitcher Clyde Hayashida. Farrington finished just a game back. Aiea went on to win the first […]

On this date in 2011, Little League World Series heroes Kaeo Aliviado and Iolana Akau helped Saint Louis over Mid-Pacific in a battle of No. 1 vs. No. 2 on the Owls field. Saint Louis ended up winning the ILH and both schools lost their first games at states. They were supposed to finish with a matchup against each other for fifth place but the game was canceled due to rain. Click the image to zoom.