‘ELE‘ELE — Mel Chiba was honored for throwing a no-hitter during his high school career at Waimea High School.
Saturday, he took to the mound again, this time in a historic father-son combination for The Rookies in the Kaua‘i Senior Softball league, against Kuku’s Aces at the ‘Ele‘ele Ball Park.
“Kaua‘i may make new history Saturday,” said a TGI reader identified as J, in an email. “It’s a father-son pitching-catching battery. In other words, the son, Melvin, is pitching and the father, Ichiro, is catching.”
J said this has never been done in the history of senior softball on Kaua‘i, and he ventured it probably has never been done anywhere in the state.
“When Mel was 15 years old, his father was the catcher for our Makaweli Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJA) baseball team and Mel was a pitcher on the team,” J said. “It was the first and only time this has taken place in the history of the AJA league.”
During that season, the duo were selected to be on the all-star team representing Kaua‘i at the state AJA tournament.
Mel pitched the game won by the Kaua‘i AJA all-stars, becoming the youngest pitcher to win a game in the AJA state tournament.
“The record is that Ichiro and Mel were the only father-son combination in the AJA baseball league, and now, in 2012, will take the field as a father-son combination in the senior softball league,” J said.
Pat Baniaga, coach of The Rookies, confirmed the appearance of the father-son combo, extracting laughter from the crowd when, during the pre-game huddle, he announced, “Ichi, pitching,” the veteran catcher reacting with “Wow! You scared me.”
With just one more week in the Kaua‘i Senior Softball league, Baniaga is already looking ahead to the state senior softball tournament which will be hosted by Kaua‘i, starting Aug. 7.
“We don’t have the firm schedule, yet, but there are 53 teams playing on six fields in Hanapepe and one field in ‘Ele‘ele,” Baniaga said. “There are eight teams from Kaua‘i, 10 teams from Maui, 14 teams from Honolulu and 21 teams from the Big Island. That’s 53 teams, and three aren’t coming.”
Baniaga said the Lihu‘e A’s, coached by Dwight Fuji, has the A seed for Kaua‘i followed by East Kaua‘i with the B seed.
The Rookies and ‘Ohana Motors will share the C seed, although Baniaga is quick to note the Rookies is ahead of ‘Ohana.
The Hanama‘ulu Hillsiders, hosting its Kachi Kachi Dance on July 28 at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall, is the E seed below West Kaua‘i which has the D seed. Kawaihau and Kuku’s Aces round out the Kaua‘i showing with the F and G seeds, respectively.
The only person missing Saturday was Bradley Chiba, a player with the Makaweli AJA team and Mel’s son, to complete a three-generation combination.
“He’s too young,” Mel chuckled, trotting out to throw the first pitch in the Saturday wind at ‘Ele‘ele.
