LIHUE — Waimea came up with two runs in the top of the seventh inning, but the effort fell short as Southside wrapped up a 4-2 win to take the lead in the recently-organized Babe Ruth Baseball League. Clarence Aki
LIHUE — Waimea came up with two runs in the top of the seventh inning, but the effort fell short as Southside wrapped up a 4-2 win to take the lead in the recently-organized Babe Ruth Baseball League.
Clarence Aki came home on a Robbie Correa’s RBI with one out in the top of the frame followed by Kurt Vidinha sacrificing Rayson Cacal across the plate. However, the effort came too late as Lihue took the contest behind four runs generated on seven hits.
Southside got on the boards early as Scott Serizawa pushed Jake Oketani across the plate in the first frame.
With one out in the second, Travis Fontanilla moved Shannon Oketani home, and scored on a first base error that came on a Davis Murata hit for Southside’s third notch.
Fontanilla delivered the final run in the sixth frame as he brought Casey Oketani home on an RBI sacrifice.
The win gives Southside a 4-0 standing following one week of baseball in the fledgling league that fields three teams – Southside, Waimea, and Kapaa.
Waimea drops to 2-2 with the Monday loss with Kapaa seeking to enter the winner’s bracket at 0-4.
Gerald Ako, one of the league’s representatives, explained that due to the late start of the program, and the need for the winning team to play at least 10 games, contests are scheduled for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with a doubleheader on Saturdays.
The weekday games start at 4:30 p.m. for a single seven-inning outing with the Saturday doubleheaders being limited to a two hour, fifteen-minute time limit with the first contest starting at 10 a.m., and the second contest pitching off 30 minutes following the first game.
Games are played at Vidinha Stadium, the Ron Martin Field in Kapaa, and Hanapepe Stadium and features players 18 years and under.
Of note in this year’s inaugural fielding are the Oketani brothers, Casey, Jake, and Shannon playing for the Southside along with state all-star Andrew Phillips who was a member of the state champion Kamehameha Warriors baseball team.
Ako explained that due to time constraints on this year’s schedule, there will be no championship contest, but the Kauai representative to the state tournament on Maui will be determined by the team with the best record at the end of the season scheduled for July 5.
A makeup game is scheduled for July 7 if necessary. Following is the schedule for the remainder of the season:
Wednesday, June 25: Kapaa at Waimea (Hanapepe Stadium) Friday, June 27: Southside at Kapaa (Ron Martin) Saturday, June 28: Waimea at Southside (Vidinha); Kapaa at Southside (Vidinha) Monday, June 30: Kapaa at Southside (Vidinha) Wednesday, July 2: Southside at Waimea (Hanapepe) Friday, July 4: Waimea at Kapaa (Ron Martin) Saturday, July 5: Kapaa at Waimea (Hanapepe); Southside at Waimea (Hanapepe) Monday, July 7: Makeup game, if necessary July 11-13: State tournament (Maui).
