WAIMEA — Eight teams up, seven teams down. After treading through five days of PONY Bronco competition, Mililani was the last team standing yesterday, with a 7-4 championship win over ‘Aiea at Waimea Canyon Ballpark. “It’s great,” Mililani head coach
WAIMEA — Eight teams up, seven teams down.
After treading through five days of PONY Bronco competition, Mililani was the last team standing yesterday, with a 7-4 championship win over ‘Aiea at Waimea Canyon Ballpark.
“It’s great,” Mililani head coach Ed Tang said. “They worked so hard for this and it was a total team effort.”
Mililani gave ‘Aiea fits from the start, scoring seven runs in the first four innings.
‘Aiea was never able to get back into the ballgame, but a big three-run blast by Regan Lum in the third inning put a small dent in the Mililani lead.
However, Mililani pitchers clamped down the rest of the way for the big victory, which sends the Hawai‘i champs to Whittier, Calif. from July 27 to Aug. 2 for the PONY Bronco West Zone Tournament.
“They play great as a team,” Tang said. “Everyone sticks together. Nobody’s exceptional, they just all work together.”
Micah Kitaoka (2-5), Shantzyn Agbayani-Shibao (3-4, 1 run), Troy Yoshizawa (2-4, HR, 2 RBI’s), Cyrus Ah Quinn (2-3) and Austin Bolosan (2-4, 2B, 3 RBI’s) led Mililani in the batting department.
“We just made less errors and stayed together,” Mililani player Keenan Sadanaga said. “It feels really good to represent Hawai‘i.”
Alika McGuire (1-4), Troy Barboza-Scanlan (3-4, 2 2B’s, 2 runs), Regan Lum (1-4, HR, 3 RBI’s) and Thomas Pahayhay (1-3) paced ‘Aiea.
Ah Quinn picked up the win on the mound for Mililani and Travis Garcia-Perreira suffered the defeat.
Mililani tallied 14 hits and two errors. ‘Aiea got eight hits and two miscues.
• Duane Shimogawa Jr., sports editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 257) or kauaisports@kauaipubco.com.
