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East Oahu’s American Legion Falcons Returning To Regional Baseball Playoffs

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Greg Hackler of Hawaii Kai practices his
pitch in preparation for the American
Legion League. Photo by Nathalie Walker,
staff photographer.

As the Falcon Baseball team prepares for this week’s American Legion League Western Regional in Albuquerque, N.M., it would be hard for head coach Shannon Hirai and his staff not to be offense-minded.

Indeed, for all of the steady pitching and solid defense the Falcons have benefitted from this summer, their offense has been off the charts when it comes to numbers.

“Our batting average is outrageous,” said Hirai. “We’re hitting close to .500 as a team.

“A lot of that is what they learned prior to coming to me,” he added with a laugh.“We’re just letting them play. If we can keep hitting the way we’ve been hitting, we should be all right, because that really helps our pitching. There’s not too much pressure on them.”

Falcon Baseball, whose roster includes (past and present) East Honolulu players from Kalani, Kaiser, Saint Louis, Iolani and Punahou, went 21-1 during the Hawaii portion of its American Legion League schedule. Last week, they won the Hawaii title with a 14-2 win over Castle on July 31 to complete the state tournament with a perfect 5-0 record. In five tournament games, the Falcons averaged 16.4 runs per outing, thanks in large part to a 38-10 shellacking of perennial power Kailua.

The Western Regional, which is a double-elimination (19-and-under) tournament, begins on Thursday and runs through next Tuesday. In addition to the Falcons, the eight-team Regional will also include two teams from New Mexico as well as teams from California, Colorado, Utah and Nevada. A year ago, the Falcons also advanced to the Western Regional and were defeated by Nevada in the championship game. Four players from the current roster - Preston Pires, Scott Hiramoto, Greg Hackler and Mark Factora - are back in the fold this time around and regard their return trip as an opportunity to take care of some unfinished business.

“Hopefully, we’ll play five games, and we’ll win all five,” said Hirai, who is also the Kalani varsity baseball coach.

Should the Falcons win the West Regional, they would move on to the American Legion League World Series, which will take place Aug. 17-21 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The Falcons will take 17 players to Albuquerque. Absent from the roster will be former Kalani standout Joshua Markwith, who had to report to Azusa Pacific University, where he will be a member of the California school’s football team.

“He hit .579 (in the Hawaii tournament) so we’re going to miss having him in the lineup,” Hirai said of Markwith.

Plenty of offensive firepower will remain in the Falcons’ lineup, however, led by Factora (Iolani/Cabrio College), who was Most Valuable Player in the Hawaii state tournament after batting .750 (12-of-16 at the plate) through five games. He also had 13 RBI and 4 extra base hits.

“He’s one of our power guys,” Hirai said. “He’s gotten hot at a good time. He came up with some clutch, bases-clearing doubles in the tournament.”

Colby Ho (Kaiser) also enters the Regional after a big effort in the Hawaii state tournament, having batted .588 with five extra base hits. Ho, whose father is the head Kaiser coach and an assistant to Hirai with the Falcons, hit home runs in his first two at-bats against Kailua.

Right-handed pitchers Hiramoto (Punahou) and Toby Inouye (Kaiser) are likely to start the Falcons’ first two games on the mound. Hiramoto earned two wins and had an earned-run average of 1.5 in the Hawaii state tournament, while Inouye had an ERA of 1.125 in helping the Falcons to their win over Punahou recently.

“They’ll be our 1-2 punch - both can recover quickly (from an outing so they can pitch again),” Hirai said. “Right now, we’re leaning toward Scott to start the first game.”

In addition to explosive offense, team unity remains a strong point for the Falcons, according to Hirai.

“This group has come a long way,” he said. “They seem to really get along well, and that’s been big for us. I knew we’d be pretty good at the beginning of the summer, but with the kids’ schedules we weren’t sure who would show up for each game, so it has been quite a nice surprise to be 21-1. The coaches (John Uehara, Stacy Hiramoto and Ho) have done a good job. I’m thankful to them for their help.”