KAPA‘A — Two Kapa‘a Under 14 softball teams walked off with wins, Monday night during the Kaua‘i Junior Olympics Under 14 softball games at the New Kapa‘a Town Park. “Kapa‘a has two of the seven teams in the Under 14
KAPA‘A — Two Kapa‘a Under 14 softball teams walked off with wins, Monday night during the Kaua‘i Junior Olympics Under 14 softball games at the New Kapa‘a Town Park.
“Kapa‘a has two of the seven teams in the Under 14 division,” said Stacy Hirokane, secretary of the Kaua‘i Junior Olympics program. “Lihu‘e has four teams and the Westside has one team.”
In the first match of the developmental program, Na Pu‘uwai took a 15-5 win over the Longshots, the game being called on time limit, and the second match saw Team Extreme getting an early lead over Kaua‘i Grown en route to a 12-3 win, the orangeshirts being handed its first loss following an 11-3 win during the opening game last Wednesday in Koloa.
One of the team mothers noted the Team Extreme and Kaua‘i Grown match is a prelude to high school softball because the coaches for Kapa‘a and Kaua‘i high schools coach Team Extreme and Kaua‘i Grown. Additionally, a lot of the younger girls on the Kapa‘a High School softball roster are still eligible to play in the Junior Olympics program.
Hirokane said the game format for the Under 14 teams has an inning going three outs or five runs, whichever comes first. Time limit is one hour and 40 minutes for each game.
“This is pretty good compared with O‘ahu where they have a lot of teams,” Hirokane said. “Over there, they play three outs, or three runs for an inning.”
The Under 14 teams play Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at different fields.
Hirokane said the Junior Olympics just finished its Under 12 league, the Kaua‘i team Kialoa having the distinction of being the first Kaua‘i team to win its division at the state tournament on O‘ahu Sunday.
In addition to the Under 14 division, Hirokane said they have three teams playing in the Under 10 division.
“They (Kialoa) had to dig themselves out of the loser’s bracket,” said Joni Funamura-Sasil, the Junior Olympics commissioner. “They got to O‘ahu on Wednesday and won one and tied one in pool play before moving on to the elimination round.”
Kialoa lost its opening game Saturday, but rebounded to win two back-to-back games, taking the field at noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., the Junior Olympics commissioner said.
“After that Saturday comeback, the girls needed to win two more games, Sunday for the title,” she said. “A loss would send them home, but they were up for the games and took two Sunday games to become the first Kaua‘i team to take the Under 12 title.”
Earlier in the season, coach Francis Takasaki said the girls went to the state tournament as Under 10s last year, but after aging up, this year went as Under 12s.
