LIHU‘E — Aaron Renaud of the Lihu‘e Baseball League’s Bronco-division Tigers was off to a great start Friday at Lihu‘e County Park. Renaud was the starting pitcher for the LBL champion Bronco team that faced the Pearl City Naturals in
LIHU‘E — Aaron Renaud of the Lihu‘e Baseball League’s Bronco-division Tigers was off to a great start Friday at Lihu‘e County Park.
Renaud was the starting pitcher for the LBL champion Bronco team that faced the Pearl City Naturals in one of three opening games at the LBL Da Bash baseball tournament.
Facing seven batters through the first two innings, Renaud marked six strikeouts and allowing no hits or walks, while Justice Camarillo let his bat speak for him, notching a two-RBI single to give the Tigers an early 2-0 lead en route to winning the matchup 9-0.
The victory counts in pool play, which continues for the Bronco and Mustang divisions through Sunday evening; the culmination of pool play determines the teams advancing to the semifinals and championship games which take place Monday starting at 8 a.m.
Kaua‘i teams, 10 from the host LBL plus a Westside Bronco team, will mix things up with 20 teams from Honolulu, two from Maui and one from the Big Island, said Cory Gokan, an LBL official.
Teams play through four pools including the Orange pool featuring the LBL Bronco champion Tigers, the Naturals, Hekili and the City Slickers.
The Blue pool, featuring the Lihu‘e Marlins who took a 12-0 win over Kaizen Friday, includes the Windward Cardinals and the Shockers.
In the Red pool, Ha‘aheo O Maui opened with a 12-2 win over host Lihu‘e Phillies, the pool also including Westside and the MKYBL Phillies.
The Green Pool features the Waiakea Marlins, Ewa Heat, MKYBL Dodgers and the Lihu‘e Brewers.
The ‘Ewa Canefires burned through its opening game in the Orange Pool of the Mustang division, shutting down the host Lihu‘e Giants 14-0. The pool also includes Ha‘aheo O Maui and the Dirtbags.
The Lihu‘e Rangers edged out Kaizen 10-5 in the opening game of the Green Pool, which also features the Lihu‘e Orioles suffering an 8-1 loss at the hands of the Honolulu Cardinals.
The Mililani Orioles, making use of every available space around the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall, opened the Blue Pool with a 3-0 win over the MKYBL Intimidators, the pool also featuring the Lihu‘e Phillies and Zone.
The LBL Champion Mustang team, the Yankees, head the Red Pool which includes the HKYBL Dodgers, the Lihu‘e Cardinals and the ‘Aiea Blackbirds.
Games start at 7:30 a.m. Saturday and from 8:30 a.m. Sunday with special events such as the opening ceremonies taking place at 11:45 a.m. Saturday.
Gokan said Saturday the LBL will be hosting all of the participating teams to a Movie Night in the Park and on Sunday night a lu‘au with a very special guest before the semifinals and championships.
The public is invited to view the competition being played on three different fields at the Lihu‘e County Park as well as enjoy the assortment of food available at the food booth and shop at Da Bash Shop, which this year explodes with a wide variety of logowear, cinch packs, assorted items to make baseball viewing more comfortable and even the highly-popular kendama, the wooden toy originally made in Japan to hone eye-hand coordination.
There is no admission for Da Bash.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
