LIHU‘E — “We’re off,” said Milton Koga, coach of the Kaua‘i Protect Our Nation’s Youth All-Stars baseball team Tuesday while watching the boys go through its final home practice at Vidinha Stadium. The Kaua‘i PONY All-Stars team left Kaua‘i Wednesday
LIHU‘E — “We’re off,” said Milton Koga, coach of the Kaua‘i Protect Our Nation’s Youth All-Stars baseball team Tuesday while watching the boys go through its final home practice at Vidinha Stadium.
The Kaua‘i PONY All-Stars team left Kaua‘i Wednesday morning for the PONY Zone tournament in Watsonville, Calif., where it will play its first game Friday against Bellingham Post 7 of Washington state at noon Pacific Standard Time.
“We don’t really know what to expect,” Koga said. “We’re just going up there and try to represent Hawai‘i and Kaua‘i to the best we can.”
Koga said this will be the first time he’ll be coaching a team at a level above the state championships, and he’ll be joined by the boys of the Kaua‘i PONY All-Stars who will also be playing their first game at a level above the state title.
“Shappa Ramos and I have tried for many years to get a state title,” Koga said. “But we’ve always come up short. This year, after the boys won the championship, Shappa came over and had to shake my hand, saying, ‘You did it!’”
The road to the PONY State Championships was not an easy one, the team having to endure a 12-inning game, which trickled into four hours before clinching a 6-4 win over Mililani in Hilo earlier this month.
Dean Toyofuku, one of the team parents, said Mililani has always been a tough adversary for Lihu‘e. At the state tournament, the Kaua‘i boys had to beat not only Mililani, but an equally tough Ewa Beach team.
Koga feels this experience will help the team in the eight-team, double elimination zone tournament in California.
Additionally, the successful fundraising effort — the Kaua‘i PONY All-Stars were able to get a food booth and concession stand at the Koloa Plantation Days park celebration — allows him to worry about coaching the game instead of finances.
“The boys had to come up with money to get to Hilo,” Koga said. “But with the efforts of the parents and team players Saturday, I’m pretty sure we have enough to take care of the team in California.”
He said he really appreciates all of the contributions, which have been flowing in to help the boys.
“This is really amazing,” he said. “I don’t even know how to let people know how much everyone on the team appreciates their support. All we can do is our best to represent Kaua‘i, and the state.”
Teams participating in the Zone tournament include Santa Cruz, Calif.; Long Beach, Calif.; Bellingham, Wash.; Kaua‘i; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Campbell, Calif.; Cache Valley, Utah; and Watsonville, Calif.
Should Kaua‘i advance past Bellingham Friday, its next game will be against the winner of the Santa Cruz/Long Beach game Saturday starting at 2:30 p.m., PST.
If the Kaua‘i PONY All-Stars succeed at the zone tournament, its next stop is in Pennsylvania for the PONY World Series.
