Photography by Rick Ogata, Story by Miranda Ogata/Special to Hawaii247.com
Central Maui 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 -- 2
Hilo 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 -- 3
As all the great baseball games are, Sunday’s (July 19) Senior Little League State Championship game was a real nail-biter, coming down to the bottom of the final inning to determine the winner. Central Maui got in the first run, with Brandon Kaupe hitting a solo home run off Hilo’s starting pitcher Bradley Waiki in the top of the second inning. It was the second home run that Kaupe hit in the State Tournament. Hilo answered with a run in the fourth inning and tied the game at one run each.
Both teams scored in the sixth inning, with Central Maui’s Nathan Clarke hitting the second home run of the game and Hilo answering immediately with run of their own in the bottom of the inning.
Hilo’s Ridge Hoopii-Hau shifted from short stop to relief pitcher in the top of the sixth inning and got the win, when he brought in the winning run for Hilo in the bottom of the seventh inning. Hoopii-Hau managed to reach base each of the four times he went to bat, twice on Central Maui errors and twice on hits.
Hilo continues on in the Senior Little League post-season and meets the team from Oregon on August 4, in Ontario, CA. The schedule for the Western Regional Tournament is located at www.littleleague.org/series/2009divisions/slbb/qualify/uswest.htm, with the Senior League Baseball World Series scheduled for Aug. 16-22. The full schedule is at www.littleleague.org.
My mom was at the Senior Little League games in Southern California this week. We were the Niles Centerville team and beat the Hawaii team. She said that the people from Hawaii were so nice. Hawaii invited them to a barbque at the hotel and even came to watch their game after Hawaii had lost to them. They were great sports. I just wanted to give a shout out to everyone from Hawaii who was there. Thank you for being so kind.