Waipahu Just Five Wins Away From The ALLWorld Series
By Jack Danilewicz
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Waipahu head baseball coach Milton Takenaka didn’t worry about his team being overwhelmed by its surroundings on arrival in Las Vegas last week for the American Legion League Western Regionals.
After all, the veteran coach has watched them play under pressure for the last four weeks. With a tie for the final two playoff spots, Waipahu won a coin flip to make the post-season. Then, with five straight wins, Waipahu was suddenly state champion. Entering the Regionals last week, the Marauders were exactly five wins away from advancing further, to the World Series, which begins in Spokane on Friday.
“It was exciting for the kids,” Takenaka said. “We had kind of an up-and-down season, getting in on a coin flip. Our hitting came around at the end and carried us through. Our pitching was all right during the regular season, but we made a lot of errors and didn’t hit the ball well. The defense picked it up, and our hitting came around.”
Entering Regional play with a 17-6-1 overall record, the team was to face the Nevada state champion Southern Titans in their first-round game. The double-elimination tournament was to run through Monday.
Peaking at the right time is the goal of any team, and Takenaka attributed his team’s growing cohesiveness
as a big factor. Waipahu’s ALL team also features players from both Pearl City and Saint Louis School, so melding the diverse talents was a challenge back in May.
“The kids knew the names of the other kids and knew them a little from summer leagues, but it was a matter of getting to know each other and playing together more. It’s worked out really well. Everything sort of clicked.”
While Waipahu began hitting its stride late in the season, the game that got them over the hump was its first-round playoff 6-4 win over Mid-Pacific, the top-seeded team.
“It was a big boost for our confidence,” Takenaka said. “It was like, ‘Oh yeah, we can do this.’”
Takenaka was unsure who would start the first Regional game, but Tyler Tokunaga (Saint Louis) and Jaris Popaca-Falefa (Waipahu) are good bets to get the call in the first two games.
When it comes to big-game experience, Tokunaga and Pearl City teammate Chevas Numata are among the most seasoned, having been on the Waipio Little League team that went to the World Series a few years back.
Both players were huge for Waipahu during the recent ALL Hawaii state tournament.
“When it started, Chevas caught fire - he was really good, offensively. Tyler started some games in the tournament and pitched well.
“He’s a competitor,” he added of Tokunaga, who is now a junior at Pearl City High. “He throws the ball pretty hard as far as a fast-ball goes, and he has a halfway decent breaking pitch, but he’s a battler.”
Takenaka also praised the play of Aiea resident and former Saint Louis catcher Kekoa Peltier. “He had a great tournament.”
The Regional field also included the Wilson Bruins of Long Beach, Calif., the Fairview Knights of Boulder, Colo., La Cueva of Albuquerque, Lions Baseball Club of Nevada, Taylorsville of Utah and the Northwest Red Raiders of Tucson.
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