Knights’ Softball Team Switching To ‘Small Ball’ Strategy

Wednesday - November 29, 2006
By Jack Danilewicz
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Shortstop Ryanne Dacosin at practice. Photo by Nathalie Walker, staff photographer.
Shortstop Ryanne Dacosin at practice. Photo by Nathalie
Walker, staff photographer.

If there’s a “mystery team” in Hawaii prep softball this winter, it may be the Castle Knights, who graduated the bulk of their Oahu Interscholastic Association Eastern Conference championship team of a year ago.

Opposing teams would be wise not to underestimate the Knights, however. If Castle has proved anything over the years, it’s that there’s always enough talent in the Kaneohe area to compensate for any loss.

“We’re young with a lot of juniors who were on the junior varsity last year, but that’s a cycle you go through,” said Castle head coach John Berinobis, whose team opens its regular season at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at home against Moanalua. “The main thing is that we still have talent and skill, and we can teach the rest.”


Since Berinobis took over the program in 1992, the Knights have never known a losing season and were the OIA champions in 1998. The Knights’ East regular-season title last year solidified their winning tradition and paved the way for yet another state tournament appearance.

Solid pitching has been Castle’s forte through the years, an area that Berinobis concedes he has

rarely had to worry about, in large part because of his father, pitching coach “Pop” Berinobis, who is regarded as one of the state’s best.

“It’s the area we always want to be strong in,” Berinobis said. “He (Pop) was a pitcher himself. He wasn’t overpowering, but he knew what to throw. He knew how to keep them (the hitters) off balance, and that’s what he’s trying to instill with our pitchers on this team. We have to hit our spots and not be predictable, always coming clean in with just a fastball.”


Whereas some of his Castle teams featured marquee players, Berinobis’ current team will have to rely on its cohesiveness and balance, prompting the veteran coach to withhold names.

“We have a senior, a junior and a sophomore right now as our pitchers, and we’ll have to wait and see (who emerges as No. 1),” he said.“They’re all capable - we’re just young as far as high school pitching goes.

“We’re still trying to form an identity,” he added. “We’re really stressing teamwork. We’ll have to do it more together this year. This is a group that hasn’t played together before at the varsity level.”

Defense has been the Knights’ strong suit through its pre-season schedule.

“We’ll rely on our defense a lot,” Berinobis said. “We’ve been hit hard in pre-season, but we’ve played good defense, and that’s what’s going to have to keep us close.”

Offensively, Castle figures to have a different look than its team from a year ago when the Knights could count on the deep ball.

“Size-wise, we may be a little smaller than we’ve been in some years, so we can play more small ball instead of relying on power hitting,” Berinobis said. “We can bunt and run and do a lot of things. It’s a change for us from power (ball) to small (ball). Right now, we’re working very hard to raise our level of play in all areas, and we’re capable of doing that.”

With the OIA breaking into two sections - Division I and Division II - the Knights’ schedule figures to be even more challenging than in past years. Castle, which has been designated as Division I, will meet Moanalua, Kailua, Kahuku, Kalaheo, Kalani and Roosevelt twice in its regular season.

“Kailua and Moanalua are going to be the teams to go through in the East. Pitching-wise, I don’t think anyone will be dominant. It should be pretty even -a toss-up as far as one, two and three. In the West, Mililani and Campbell look really good, and Pearl City is scrappy. They have a (2006) state championship they’d like to retain. It’s going to boil down to who makes mistakes and who hits.”

The Knights’ games with Kaimuki on Jan. 3 and Kailua on Jan. 6 are scheduled to be played at Central Oahu Regional Park and will be televised statewide by Oceanic Cable.

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