NAALEHU – Journey Leialoha held a shaved ice in one hand and a baseball in the other as he gave his postgame interview. He was most excited when he talked about a tool he’d just earned – someone owes the man a new bat.
NAALEHU – Journey Leialoha held a shaved ice in one hand and a baseball in the other as he gave his postgame interview. He was most excited when he talked about a tool he’d just earned – someone owes the man a new bat.
Leialoha hit a home run Monday as the 9-10 All-Stars did what teams from Hilo of all ages do best. They bashed the ball with regularity, beating North Hawaii 14-1 in the District 4 Little League championship game.
“My mom said if I hit it over the fence, then she’s going to buy me a new bat,” Leialoha said.
Perhaps it will come in time for Hilo’s trip to states, a tournament that runs June 18-22 at Central Oahu Regional Park.
The first youth baseball tournament to be held Ka’u in many years concluded under sunny skies, and Hilo’s bats shined as bright as its fluorescent orange uniforms. Finishing 3-0 at districts and led by Wailele Kane-Yates’ seven hits, the All-Stars looked different than the team that had to come back Friday to beat North Hawaii 8-7.
“That first game we kind of struggled to hit the ball, but today our bats were on fire,” coach Baba Lancaster said. “We focus a lot on hitting. Even our subs can hit.”
Look no further than Leialoha. Hitting left-handed, he came off the bench for the No. 9 hitter in the third inning to hit a three-run home run as Hilo scored 12 times. It was his second home run of the season.
“My favorite part of (baseball) is hitting home runs,” he said. “I just went up to make contact.”
Pitcher Logan Neves and North Hawaii hung tough early, but an error opened the door for a big third inning as Hilo’s first 12 batter reached safely. Kane-Yates, Jacob Gomes and Kahiapo Silva each hit RBI singles and Elijah Okano tripled and scored on a wild pitch.
Hilo went down in order in the first, but Kane-Yates and Gomes led off with doubles and Silva drove in another run with a hit.
Starter Xaige Lancaster struck out seven. His biggest strikeout came when he retired North Hawaii slugger Quentin Hook with two runners on base to end the top of the third.
“We stick together and have fun,” said Xaige Lancaster, who worked the four full innings and allowed three hits, mixing a cutter and curveball in with his fastball.
Hezekiah Wilson and Easten Hoshida accounted for North Hawaii’s run with singles to lead off the fourth. For the second consecutive year, North Hawaii finished 2-2 and fell to Hilo in the final. Ka’u was 1-2 and Hamakua went 0-2.
“They hit the ball and our pitching kind of messed up, but that’s OK,” North Hawaii coach coach Earl Hoshida said. “We came to play.”
It wasn’t too long ago that island Little League tournaments consistently were six-team fields with two clubs from Hilo. The league is trying to build itself up after losing its district charter for a few years. Last season, Baba Lancaster and Hilo didn’t get to go to states after losing a best-of-three play-in series to a team from Maui.
“Getting our district back was the first step (back),” he said.