It appears coaches on the Big Island were ahead of their time as far as analytics go.
On this day in 1963, St. Joseph pitcher Frank Manalili limited Ka’u to a single hit in a 7-2 victory. It was one of three wins for the senior, against four losses, but he was still judged the best right-handed pitcher at the end of the season.
In the pivotal South Division of the BIIF, Manalili helped deal the Cowboys their first loss, striking out eight and yielding four walks. Manalili earned his third win of the season against one loss before struggling to the finish line. The Cardinals scored seven runs on only five hits thanks to four Ka’u errors.
Frank was the youngest of the four Manalili brothers, three of them went on to play in the Hilo Baseball League where he became known as a tough luck loser. He once pitched 13 scoreless innings against Jimmy Manalili, who threw the first 10 scoreless, only to have a reliever come in in the 14th and lose the game. Frank won the rematch against Jimmy by pitching 13 innings in a 2-1 victory and lost to younger brother Herman by a 1-0 score.
Every game in the rest of the state was rained out, so the BIIF took center stage. Coach Albert Ikeda continued his excellence in the North in Konawaena’s 8-0 shutout of Kohala to take the sole lead in the division by a half game over Honokaa. Pat Duarte and Francis Vinhasa paired hits for the Wildcats, who used four pitchers in the easy win.
Pahoa won the game of the day in the South, beating Laupahoehoe 3-2 in 10 innings on George Taketa‘s double to score Albert Derasin.
Francisco Tagalicod and Wilfred Navalta both went all 10 innings, with Tagalicod earning his first win of the young season and Navalta dropping to 0-2. Pahoa won despite committing four errors.
Despite the strong starts, both Konawaena and St. Joseph failed to win their divisions, with Honokaa trouncing Konawaena 9-4 to win the North and Hilo taking the South. The Vikings won the state berth with a win over the Dragons 2-1 behind the incredible pitching tandem of Vernon Inouye and Alan Ah Sing, who combined to strike out 17 batters in the game before the clincher.
Ah Sing beat Kauai in the state tournament, but Inouye fell to Farrington’s Glen Cermak while holding Governors legend John Matias to an 0-for-4 mark with three strikeouts, once with the bases loaded.
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