Yesterday’s championship game between the Kawaihau Little League’s Cardinals and Giants featured a face-off between two of the top pitchers, a broken bat single, stolen bases, close plays and a see-saw scorecard that kept the crowd on the edge of
Yesterday’s championship game between the Kawaihau Little League’s Cardinals and Giants featured a face-off between two of the top pitchers, a broken bat single, stolen bases, close plays and a see-saw scorecard that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats.
And all that action at the Kawaihau Diamond in Kapa‘a ended with the Cardinals defeating the Yankees, 6-4.
The Yankees (11-1) arrived with a slue of veteran players and high hopes and expectations. The Cardinals showed up with six players who never played the game before. But what the Cardinals did have was a lot of heart and the smoking arm of the ace pitcher Rashaan “Turtle” Kuhalua.
In the top of the first inning, the Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs.
The Yankees escaped by turning a double play and striking out another batter. At the bottom of the first, the Yankees unloaded on the Cardinals with three runs on three hits and a quiet fell upon the Cardinal faithful.
Momentum shifted at the top of the third when the Cardinals did some unloading of their own, also scoring three runs on three hits.
The score remained tied until the top of the fifth when the Cardinals struck again scoring another run on an RBI by Landon Olivera.
The Yankees tied the score in the bottom of the fifth when Daniel Reis laced an RBI double to right field.
But the day belonged to the Cardinals.
At the top of the sixth and final inning, they scraped together two more runs to pull ahead and were able shut down the Yankees striking out the side.
The League will now form its all-star team to play in the District 1 tournament on O‘ahu.
