The Hilo Bronco All-Stars have a strong legacy to uphold, even if they don’t know it.
Coach Gayne Kobayashi hasn’t talked to his team about the raging success Hilo’s 12-and-under teams have enjoyed recently in state PONY baseball tournaments held at Walter Victor complex, and he may not need to.
Making relentless contact at the plate and with six pitchers combining on a four-hitter Saturday, the present-day Broncos were something to talk about in their own right with a 9-5 comeback win in their opener against Windward, Oahu.
“We planned for our batters to stay aggressive at the plate,” Kobayashi said. “The bats started off slow but got hot at the end and capitalized on some key situations.”
Hilo hitters struck out just once, drew three walks and one batter was hit, with the rest putting the ball in play as Hilo chipped away at a 3-0 deficit by scoring in each of the final five innings.
No. 7 hitter Jaydon Geraci was 3 for 3 with three RBIs, including a go-ahead run-scoring double in the fifth inning.
In 2015, some of Hilo’s players were playing Pinto ball, too busy or young to remember that the Broncos of yesteryear dominated state play at Walter Victor, winning all four tournaments held at the venue from 2011-15 in dominating fashion.
Somewhat because of that run, the state tournament hadn’t been held in Hilo since.
“We didn’t mention anything to them about that, but we’re aware of that and we plan on playing hard all the way through to the end,” Kobayashi said.
While Hilo’s hitters put stress on Windward’s defense, pitchers Keyan Kanahele (two innings), Neil Colobong-Juayang (two), Clemson Julian (one), Quinn Waiki (one), Noah Palea (two-third) and Jaziah Oili (one-third) combined to strike out 12.
“We followed a strict pitch count so we have our main pitchers available (Sunday),” Kobayashi said.
At 3:30 p.m., Hilo (1-0) plays Mililani (2-0), with the winner advancing to Tuesday’s title game. On Saturday, Mililani beat Aiea, which, like Hilo, was playing its opener.
No. 9 hitter Keagan Pacheco collected two hits for Hilo, including a perfectly placed bunt in the fourth to help fuel a two-run rally to tie the game. Colobong-Juayang started the go-ahead rally in the fifth with a hit, scoring on Waiki’s single to left, and he ripped and RBI double to deep center in the sixth inning as sixth consecutive batters reached via a hit.
“The key players have lot of tournament experience,” Kobayashi said. “We we have a great mixture of speed, power and strong arms. That helps a lot.”
• The Hilo Bronco 11s went ahead with a three-run rally in the fifth, and relief pitcher Zian Wery worked out off bases-loaded jam in the sixth in a 10-7 win against Kauai that – just like that – puts the Big Islanders on the cusp of a crown.
Hilo got a bye Friday in the three-team tournament and will take the field at 10:30 a.m. Monday for the first of two shots at a title. Kauai and Mililani will play at 8 a.m. Sunday for other spot in the final. On Friday, Kauai beat the Central Oahu team 6-2.
Wery was Hilo’s sixth pitcher after Gavien DeMello called upon Cole Silva, Nathaniel Freeman, Kaleb Wada, Koa Marzo Jr. and Talus Sato.
“A lot of the stuff we talked about was believe in themselves, their team, their family and go from there,” DeMello said.
• The Hilo Pony All-Stars (14-under) bowed out of the tournament with their second loss, 7-1 to Kauai.