Full Lineup Keeps Chargers Hard At Work For Play-spot

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Kahana Neal tags Kyle Kobayashi as he tries to steal second during a Pearl City practice. Photo by Byron Lee, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

The Pearl City High School baseball team doesn’t have to travel far to find a competitive atmosphere.To be sure,with a roster numbering 27, the day-to-day battles for playing time within the team should never be underestimated when it comes to analyzing their success.

“Everyone works hard because they all know there’s someone else (to take their place in the lineup),” said coach Gary Nakamoto.“We’re strict with our rules, and they all have to follow them. It isn’t all baseball; if they don’t have rules (to follow) or discipline, they’re not going to get ahead in life.”

On and off of the playing field, the 2008 season has already been one for the ages for Pearl City, which captured a second straight OIA title last week. They had wrapped up the OIA West conference crown a week earlier. This week, they have set their sights on the state baseball championships, which run Wednesday through Saturday at Les Murakami Stadium at UH-Manoa.

As the OIA’s top seed, the Chargers (13-2) automatically move into Thursday’s quarterfinals with a first-round bye. Although pairings for the tournament weren’t to be released until early this week, the first-round bye in and of itself is a huge boost to their chances,leaving the Chargers only two wins away from making a second appearance in the state title game. Moreover, Nakamoto said, with one less game to play, “we can save one of our pitchers.”

Pitching has carried the Chargers to date behind Corey Yuh, Bryson Nakamura and Kahana Neal. Any one of the three could get the call for Thursday’s game. (Pearl City plays the winner of a first-round game between two teams that were to be named later.)

“We’ll look at the seedings and who we’re going to play, and that will determine who we’ll start,” he said.“It will be a long week, so we’ll have to stay focused and stay fit.”

Neal pitched seven plus innings to earn the win over Kailua in last week’s OIA title game before giving way to Nakamura, who earned the save, while Yuh has been solid all-around this season. In addition to his steady performances on the mound, his offensive prowess also shone through against the Surfriders in the OIA title game, going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.

A return trip to this year’s state championship game will depend on more of the same clutch play, according to Nakamoto. “Our pitching has come through, and we’ve been able to get a lot of timely hits. It’s been a team effort this year.”

As a reward for winning the OIA, Nakamoto gave the boys a day off last Tuesday before reconvening on Wednesday to begin preparation for the state tournament. While Nakamoto eagerly awaited the pairings to plan his pitching rotation, the emphasis is all on the Chargers, rather than on scouting reports.

“They need to focus on the game and play their game, not the other team’s game,” he said. “They have to concentrate on what we do.”

In an effort to keep them sharp, Nakamoto also was planning an intrasquad scrimmage late last week.“We’re trying to keep the kids loose and mentally ready. We can’t scrimmage outside (teams), but we can have one ourselves, which will help us get a ‘game atmosphere.’”

Although coaching changes invariably translate into “transition years,” the Chargers have been able to stave off the effects after Nakamoto took over for the retired Mel Seki at the end of last year’s state tournament run.

“I’m very happy with the outcome so far,“Nakamoto said.“The West is a tough Division - we thought we’d be competitive, but we didn’t expect to do this. To win the OIA two years in a row with two different coaches is pretty good.”