Windward P.O.N.Y. Team Headed For World Series

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The Windward P.O.N.Y. Mustang All Star Team. Photo from
Sharene Chun.

It may be the journey that counts rather than the destination, as the old saying goes, but David Kamalu has always been quick to remind his Windward P.O.N.Y.Mustang All-Star team of their ultimate destination. That would be Irving, Texas, of course, site of next month’s Little League World Series.

“That’s the big show - and that’s where we want to be,“said Kamalu.

To that end, Kamalu’s team, which is comprised of 9- and 10-year-olds from Windward communities, would appear to be right on schedule. With its recent State Regional Championship,Windward will next take part in the West Zone Tournament (July 26-30) in Chino Hills, Calif. The team departs July 24. For the past two months, Windward has been practicing five days a week and scrimmaging on Saturdays in the hopes of extending their season.

“It’s a dream come true for me, too,“Kamalu laughed.“I’m not sure it’s really sunk in yet for us.We have great kids, great parents, and great coaches and we’re all excited.What more could you ask for?”

Windward,which last won a state title in 1998, had officially punched its ticket to the West Zone Tournament a couple of weeks ago with a 7-2 win over Maui in the finals of the Regional (State) Tournament, having posted wins versus Makakilo

(8-5), Hilo (12-0), and Mililani (10-0) along the way.A 6-5 loss to Maui was Windward’s only loss during the post-season. Before the Regional Tournament,Windward had cruised through the Hawaii Kai Sectional with wins over Waianae (16-1), Hawaii Kai (12-2) and Ewa Beach (4-3), giving them seven victories in their last eight games heading into their California trip.

For all their talent, Kamalu credited the team’s cohesiveness with having been a huge factor in their success this summer.

“We just keep stressing team work, team work, team work,” he said. “When you play as a team, things happen. It took a while, but after a couple of weeks, they came together. They’re becoming closer as a group every week.A lot of them have become good friends.They get along well and they play as a team. And they never give up.”

When Windward first assembled as a team in May,Kamalu set the tone quickly.“From day one, the first day of practice, I told them, ‘you guys are the team to beat - I don’t care

what anybody else says,‘“he said.“I kept telling them they’re No. 1 and that they had to work hard. To be the best, you have to work hard and they have.We’ve been working them hard.

“It’s a challenge going over there (to the Mainland),“Kamalu added. “We’ll go up there and try our best to represent Hawaii well.”

Like any tournament comprised of all-star teams, the West Zone Tournament figures to be ultra-competitive. Kamalu sees pitching as a key, which could translate into good news for his team.Windward has used 10 different pitchers throughout its schedule and received complete-game victories from both Stephen Lee (a one-hitter in semi-final game) and Dane Kamalu in the team’s last two outings. Rounding out the Windward team are Kapono Lucas, Kainalu Gasper, Robb Risso, Derek Chinen Jr., Roi Medina, Jaron Manago, Riley Timmerman, Brandon Makekau, Syles Choy, Kupa’a Harrison, Kekai Rios, Ryder Kuhns and Alaka’i Kim.

“Pitching and hitting are the keys,” said Kamalu,who is assisted by coach David Rios and business manager Stephen Lee.“We have both so we’ll go from there.

“All 15 of our kids have pitched (with their regular Little League teams) and we’ve used about 10.

“It always depends on who we’re playing,“he said.“I like to watch the other team warm up and go from there.Offensively,we have great bats,” Kamalu said.“But we’ll bunt our way on (base) if we can’t hit. We want to try to keep people off balance.”

The Little League World Series will take place Aug. 1-4.