LIHU`E — Vidinha Stadium will be the center of attention on Saturday as in addition to the Kaua`i County Farm Bureau Fair, the 2 p.m. pre-season football game between the Kapa`a High School Warriors and the Lahainaluna Lunas, the Hawai`i
LIHU`E — Vidinha Stadium will be the center of attention on Saturday as in
addition to the Kaua`i County Farm Bureau Fair, the 2 p.m. pre-season football
game between the Kapa`a High School Warriors and the Lahainaluna Lunas, the
Hawai`i State Youth Baseball and its member league, the Kaua`i PONY League will
be hosting a team from Tokyo, Japan to two games staring at 10 a.m. at the
baseball complex.
According to Larry Moises of the Hawai`i PONY Baseball
organization, the team is the Hoya Dodgers comprised of 15 players aged 13-14
years old. They will be locking horns with a Kapa`a PONY team coached by Jay
Gatiuan.
The Japanese team, whose visit was arranged and coordinated by
Masatomo Inoue, will be arriving on Kaua`i Friday afternoon where they will be
staying at the Kaua`i Marriott, and following their 2-game outing on Saturday,
will be hosted to a potluck dinner by their Kaua`i counterparts at the
diamond.
Sunday is reserved for sight-seeing, and on Monday, the group
meets with Mayor Maryanne Kusaka before departing for a 2-day stay on O`ahu
before returning to Japan.
Unfortunately, due to an illness, Inoue will not
be in the company of the Hoyas, but there have been discussions on future
goodwill games between Japan and Kaua`i.
Tokyo Hoya Dodger players
include:
Daisuke Kitajima, Takahiro Watanabe, Junichi Yoshimoto,
Kazunobu Ono, Ryo Shimizu, Yutaka Ichihara, Ryoma Takahashi, Meguru Kaneko,
Takayuki Suzuki, Yuichi Oyama, Shota Tanabe, Toshiyuki Ishii, Takafuni Ogawa,
Masayuki Yagasaki, Koji Takahashi, Hideo Takahashi (Coach), Naoyuki Matsumoto
(Coach), Yoshiaki Matsumoto (Manager)
