HANAPEPE — The Keonimana Gents senior softball team captured the previous five Kauaʻi Senior Softball championships. But like many dynasties in sports, staying on top for several seasons is challenging to maintain.
The Gents improved their record to 6-0 with a decisive, 25-1, five-inning victory over the Hanama‘ulu Hillsiders Saturday at the Hanapepe Stadium complex.
Gents’ player Cliff Furtado knows for the Gents to capture their sixth consecutive title, and to qualify for the top division in the state tournament Aug. 4 to 6 in Hanapepe, Kaumakani and ‘Ele‘ele they will have to overhaul a cluttered and talented field of competitors.
“I think the Rookies have a good chance to take the championship this year,” Furtado said. “We matched their record (of consecutive Kauai Senior Softball titles), and we know the second round will be difficult.”
Still, they know the next few weeks in the first round of their schedule will present a challenge as they prepare to face some of the top teams, including a March 14 meeting with the ‘Ohana Motors Rebels, and a March 21 showdown with the Rookies, currently tied with the Gents for first place with a perfect 6-0 record.
“We played some of the (teams with losing records) first, and that is the way the schedule is set up,” Furtado said. “The top teams are going to be coming up. We took the championship for five years straight, and the Rookies have a lot of younger guys that are coming up and making the championship this year.”
The team’s win-loss records are inconsequential to Gents’ manager Sis Salausa.
Salausa knows the intensity level at the state competition in August intensifies significantly.
“Every game is important, and the main thing is that our team is having fun, and second, we don’t get hurt, because at our age it takes longer to heal (from injury),” Salausa said. “We have a lot of good competition this year, and there are a lot of teams with similar records as us, like the Rebels, the Barteks, and the Rookies.”
Salausa doesn’t feel there is any formulaic way to defeat the Rookies, who many players in the league now consider one of the teams, if not the team, to beat, according to Salausa.
“They have to have a bad day, and we have to a good day (when we play them),” Salausa said. “In the game of softball, it comes down to hits and defense.”
Salausa’s team dominated the Hillsliders with an offensive barrage of runs, but he tells them to have the same philosophical approach towards playing any team.
“They have a lot of older guys, and we respect them,” Salausa said. “It doesn’t matter whether they are on the top or the bottom. We try to treat everyone the same and play at the same caliber of competition (regardless of win-loss records). When you play a team that isn’t as good (record-wise), teams tend to get lax, and during every game, you have to play hard no matter what the caliber of the team you play is. This game is about having fun and not stressing out a lot.”
The Gents are approaching the second round of competition, and are getting older while facing top-caliber competition.
“There is a lot of competition this year, and I think it is essential to keep a competitive edge, and you go to state and play high-caliber teams,” Salausa said. ” That is just as good. Having good (on-island) competition always makes you better, and the other main focus for us, at this juncture of the season, is to stay healthy.”
As the Gents move to the second round of the schedule, they know defending their crown will get more and more difficult, which should not only add parity to the league but create a dramatic finish.
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Jason Blasco, sports reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or jblasco@thegardenisland.com.
