Baseball nearly every day couldn’t untie the knot in the OIA West.
On this date in 2001, Shawn Benson threw a complete game and Pearl City beat Mililani 5-2 to cause a five-way tie for second place in the West.
Campbell was the class of the group at 8-1. Mililani, Aiea, Pearl City, Waianae and Leilehua all finished 6-3 to leave OIA baseball coordinator Keith Morioka grasping at straws to figure out which three of the five would move on to the league tournament.
The race was muddled because a teacher’s strike caused the boys to play 25 games in eight days. Leilehua and Campbell went 5-0 after the strike, followed by Pearl City and Waianae at 3-2, Aiea at 3-3 and Mililani at 2-2.
Pearl City, Mililani and Leilehua squeezed into the playoff, leaving Waianae and Aiea on the outside looking in. Only four teams were allowed into the tournament because of the strike. Usually, all six would be in.
Kailua ended up winning the tournament.
Thank you for the Benson post. You filled my day with a big smile and appreciation:)