LIHUE — In a tournament featuring 220 players from 36 states across the United States, Kauai’s Micah Hee was the only player that traveled from Hawaii.
The travel was well worth it.
“We won the championship. We took out the No. 1 team. They were undefeated,” Hee said on Friday.
Hee, of Lihue, competed in the inaugural Sin City Super Draft slow pitch softball tournament last week in Las Vegas. Hee, 28, played shortstop and outfielder.
“We’re the first team that won the first tournament,” Hee said. “I feel really proud, and pretty much I’m blessed to have an opportunity to expose myself on the mainland. For a boy from Kauai, we don’t have that much exposure.”
Hee’s team went 10-1 in tournament play to win the inaugural championship.
In addition, Hee was named tournament MVP. He said he hit 11 home runs during tournament play — just one short of winning the home run title.
“I was really shocked. I was really speechless. I didn’t believe that I actually won it,” Hee said of receiving MVP honors. “I thought it would be our pitcher. Everybody knew somehow, but I didn’t know.”
The 220 players that entered were drafted to 20 teams. Hee said among the players that competed were professional slow pitch softball players, college players and retired minor league baseball players.
The Kauai High School alum said teams only had one hour of practice before play started.
“It was really unreal,” Hee said. “Somehow, the team that I played with just clicked. We had that chemistry already. … Everybody on the team was really humble people and easy-going. They were really easy to get along with.”
Teams played two play-in games to determine seeding for a double-elimination tournament.
A memorable defensive highlight, Hee said, was when he made a home run-saving catch in the outfield to rob the opponent of a grand slam in the last inning of the championship game.
From his play in Las Vegas, Hee said he’s received inquiries of playing for clubs on the mainland.
“Ever since the tournament, there’s a lot of teams from that asked me if I want to play with them,” he said. “I really want to get myself into a professional level for softball. For me to play this tournament, it’s a process to start my way to becoming a professional softball player.”
He added each player on the championship team received Pure Sports customized bats.
“I’m going to put that in my room. I’m going to frame that,” Hee said. “That’s going to be a memorabilia.”
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
