One Protect Our Nation’s Youth team is gone, one team is still alive, and the fate of the third was still unknown, Sunday evening. Playing at the Walter Victor Stadium in Hilo, Hawai‘i, the Lihu‘e Mustang All Stars were eliminated
One Protect Our Nation’s Youth team is gone, one team is still alive, and the fate of the third was still unknown, Sunday evening.
Playing at the Walter Victor Stadium in Hilo, Hawai‘i, the Lihu‘e Mustang All Stars were eliminated from the state tournament following a 10-0 shutout to Hilo.
The Lihu‘e Mustangs opened on a winning note, 6-2 over Maui, before dropping a 6-5 heartbreaker to Aiea. But the Lihu‘e Mustangs mustered a comeback with a 6-3 win over Mililani before dropping to Hilo, Sunday afternoon.
The state championship bid will be settled today when Aiea advances to meet the winner of the Ewa/Ewa Beach and Hilo matchup, which starts at 9 a.m.
The Lihu‘e Bronco All Stars are still in the chase for the title following its 10-9 edge over Aiea in the Sunday afternoon matchup in Hilo, according to Andrea Franier, a TGI writer who is with the team.
Heading to the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lihu‘e Broncos were trailing by three runs before coming up with a rally for the win, Franier said in a text message.
With the win, the Lihu‘e Broncos face KAC in a 9 a.m. match, Monday, the winner of that game facing Hilo-Host for the Bronco state title starting at noon.
Earlier, Lihu‘e Broncos dropped a 6-3 match to Hilo-Host, Saturday, sending the Lihu‘e boys to face Hilo-Red, a contest Lihu‘e won 8-0, Sunday morning before advancing to meet Aiea.
Lihu‘e Broncos opened its state bid Friday with a 10-9 win over Waiana‘e to advance against Hilo-Host.
The fate of the Kaua‘i PONY All Stars is uncertain as no results of its game against Maui were available at press time.
The Kaua‘i PONY All Stars started its state title bid Friday with a 13-6 win over Ewa/Ewa Beach, advancing to meet Aiea, Saturday morning.
That game was extremely trying for the Kaua‘i boys after the Ewa Beach game was suspended due to darkness and resumed at 7 a.m., Saturday, Kaua‘i eventually moving on to meet Aiea at 8 a.m.
But the back-to-back outing took its toll and Kaua‘i got nipped 6-5, marking Saturday as a black day for the Kaua‘i PONY teams who all suffered losses.
But there was hope and the Broncos advanced, perched at the edge of a state title.
The Kaua‘i PONY All Stars opened Sunday with a 1-0 edge over the West Side Boys, advancing to meet Maui in an Sunday afternoon game.
If the Kaua‘i PONY All Stars are successful, it meets Aiea in a rematch, Monday this at 9 a.m., the winner moving on to meet Mililani for the division title.
The Region winner, state title, for the Broncos advance to the Zone tournament scheduled for July 29 to Aug. 1 in Whittier, Calif., the winner of that tournament advancing to the Bronco World Series, Aug. 4 through 11 in Monterey, Calif.
The PONY Region tournament winner, state title, advance to the Zone tournament scheduled for Aug. 4 through 9 in Whittier, Calif., the winner of that tournament advancing to the World Series, Aug. 12 through 20 in Washington, PA.
Visit www.pony.org for more information.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
