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There’s No Second Chances In Hawaii Prep Baseball

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In the Hawaii prep baseball world, there is no tomorrow without today.

Unlike in the pro game, prep baseball in the OIA comes with few second chances in the post-season.

Even in the higher levels of sports, there is almost always a chance for a second chance. In both the NBA and NHL playoffs, among others, you can lose a game, even three, and still move on in the post-season because of their respective best-of-seven formats.

To make way for a state tournament appearance next month, member schools must first win the quarterfinal round of their league tournament or they guarantee themselves the long, hard route to the state, by way of the consolation round.

Pearl City is the league’s three-time defending champion in baseball and had won 29 of its last 31 games, dating back to March of 2009, but none of that would have mattered much if the Chargers had lost last Thursday in their own quarterfinal with Moanalua. The purple haze of their regular season would have disappeared in their need for having to win-out in the consolation round. Missing out on the state tournament is not an option for the Chargers, one of the elite programs in the state the last several years.

“The kids know what they need to do - you have to win to advance,” said coach Gary Nakamoto.“All season long they’ve been up for games, so hopefully it turns out good. Every game is a big game for us. Anyone can beat anybody.”

Their quarterfinal opponent, Moanalua, looked to be one of the tougher matchups for teams like the Chargers who had a first-round bye in the OIA Tournament. Na Menehune upset Iolani at last year’s state tournament, and Nakamoto had them atop his own OIA East bracket when he sized up the teams in February.

“We were surprised they finished fourth,” he said hours before Pearl City’s 4-1 victory over Moanalua in the quarterfinals, which guaranteed them a state tournament berth.

“They (Moanalua) are a good team. Hopefully, we can get by this.”

Despite any pressure to get a win, Nakamoto maintained his kids were ready to perform last week. “They’re pretty loose, they’re easy going. I think the coaches have more pressure on them.”

Like the Chargers,Waipahu (9-2) has been dominant in Division II, winning the last two OIA titles. Head coach Milton Takenaka’s team faced its most significant game of the year last Thursday in their league tournament quarter-final game with McKinley (an 11-1 win) and were to face Kaimuki in a semifinal game late Friday.

Having been in big games before helps, in the coach’s view. Waipahu is seeking a third straight appearance in the state tournament, something that couldn’t have happened had they lost to McKinley.

“Because most of our kids have been through it (potential elimination games) once at least, they kind of know what to expect,” Takenaka said of the winner-take-all encounter with McKinley. “They weren’t over-hyped about it. I didn’t feel like there was added pressure on them.

I think Friday was more of a pressure game - trying to get back to the title game again.”

Surviving the so-called elimination games bodes well down the road for a team, he noted. “The (first-round-(loss)-and-you’re-out-format), it helps. That’s how the state tournament is run. If you lose the first one, you’re out.”

No one has faced more ‘win-or-go-home’ games the last two seasons than Mililani’s Mark Hirayama. The Trojans defeated Kalani 8-7 last Wednesday in their first round game. In 2009, Hirayama’s first year at Mililani, the Trojans defeated Castle 1-0 in their first-round game and went on to beat Kaiser and Kalani in the consolation round (following a quarterfinal loss to Kailua) to earn the league’s fifth spot in the state tournament.

Hirayama downplayed the pressure aspect, but noted a team benefits from playing four games in four days, as his team did in 2009.“It prepares you for the state tournament, having to get everyone ready in that short period of time. We’ve been playing the whole season one game at a time. We ask all the players to always be ready because you never know when you are going to get the call. We want to just play every game like it is a must win.”

Pairings for the state tournament, which runs next Wednesday through Saturday, will be announced late Sunday.