LIHU‘E — ‘Aiea’s Miles Higa whacked a three-run homer in the fourth inning to pull the A‘iea Broncos to a 6-6 tie with Mililani A. Catcher James Higa capitalized on the sodden conditions of the Sunday morning mist to score
LIHU‘E — ‘Aiea’s Miles Higa whacked a three-run homer in the fourth inning to pull the A‘iea Broncos to a 6-6 tie with Mililani A.
Catcher James Higa capitalized on the sodden conditions of the Sunday morning mist to score on a wild pitch as ‘Aiea went on to claim the 2005 Hawai‘i Region Bronco Tournament title with a 10-7 win over the boys in red from Mililani.
Miles Higa combined with Jordan Murai to share the win on the hill, Higa taking the mound in the bottom of the fourth, and after struggling through three outs, finished on a rebuilt mound.
Mililani was able to push Chase Yamada across the plate on a Matthew Oda hit to deadlock the contest, 7-7.
But, with both pitchers making ample use of the wooden chopsticks to dig out the sticky mud from between the cleats of their shoes, officials from the hosting Lihu‘e Baseball League recessed the contest to scrape off the gooey mud and replace the mess with a healthy helping of kitty litter in an attempt to soak up some of the moisture from the morning sprinkles.
In addition to his homerun, Miles Higa continued to fuel the ‘Aiea offense as an RBI double in the fifth frame pushed third-baseman Royce Murai across the plate. Trey Oshiro-Atabay upped the A‘iea ante on a passed ball score, and Miles Higa notching the final ‘Aiea run on a Jordan Murai RBI single for three runs in the fifth frame.
A‘iea lost little time opening the score-books as a James Higa hard hit ball glanced off the tiny frame of the Mililani A shortstop for the first run with two outs.
“I never saw so many balls hit to the shortstop,” Dondi Viquelia, one of the Kaua‘i Pony Baseball organizers commented. “That was a hard hit ball, not an error.”
The second ‘Aiea run in the inning came on another hit to the Mililani shortstop for the 2-0 bulge.
But, Mililani A answered right back with three runs in the bottom of the frame as Mikey Oda drove in Chase Yamada and Cameron Lalau, Lalau earlier driving in Christian Pascual for the 3-2 lead.
The boys in red upped the ante in the second inning after holding ‘Aiea scoreless as Yamada opened up the pages with an RBI double crossing Dustyn Cook, the hardworking shortstop, and Yamada scoring on a Lalau single for the 5-2 reading after two frames.
James Higa notched the third run for ‘Aiea in the third inning to set the stage for Miles’ homerun that came in the fourth inning.
Team members for the victorious ‘Aiea Broncos include Miles Higa, Jordan Murai, James Higa, Regan Lum, Michael Egami, Troy Barboza Scanlan, Travis Uyeda, Royce Murai, Trey Oshiro Atabay, Jordan Wong, Kekoa Welsh, Ross Hasegawa, Kylee Oshiro, Jaren Yoshimura, Keanu Arke.
They are managed by Dean Oshiro with Stephen Nagamine as coach, and David Matsumiya as Business Manager.
The 2005 Hawai‘i Region Bronco Tournament was hosted by the West Kaua‘i Youth, and Lihu‘e baseball leagues with Pat Baniaga of Kaua‘i, and Bernard Kaupe of Maui serving as Tournament Directors.
Tournament co-chairs were Paul Pancho and Warren Koga, both presidents of the West Kaua‘i Youth Baseball Association, and Lihu‘e Baseball League respectively.
‘Aiea, with their tournament championship, will advance to the Bronco West Zone Tournament.
