WAILUA HOUSELOTS — The Kaua‘i Senior Softball League rolled through the second month of play with seven decisive victories in the seven games.
The two ballparks enjoyed another perfect weekend of weather, with gentle breezes and clear skies. A triple-header featured at the garden softball dimond in Wailua Houselots Park and a blockbuster, four-game slate on tap in the cozy confines of the ‘Ele‘ele Park.
Barteks shuts out Islanders
The Barteks squared off with the Islanders in the early opener on the thick turf of the Houselots softball diamond.
Shapa Ramos has his Westside squad finely tuned and just a game off the league-leading pace. Joe Bertucci has his Islander team on a path of steady improvement. As the sun came up, the two teams went in opposite directions.
Barteks were sharp with the bat and smothering on defense. A dozen runs were put up early on, and Barteks cruised to an impressive 12-0 shut-out. The Barteks currently have a 7-1 record.
‘Ohana dominates Hillsiders
The Hanama‘ulu Hillsiders came up the eastern seaboard to welcome ‘Ohana to the Houselots. Pete Rayno has a wily group of veterans and some young energy to go up against a pretty solid ‘Ohana force. ‘Ohana comes to the park with great glove-work and power hitters to mix with a steady base-hit attack. The Hillsiders continued their hot streak at the plate and put together a few rallies to run for eight scores on the board. ‘Ohana could match that and more with powerful blasts in the alleys each inning to drive in 20 runs. ‘Ohana took the knockout advantage and ended early behind the 20-8 win.
East Kaua‘i Legends top Aces
The East Kaua‘i Legends were home to Kuku’s Aces in the final game of the morning. Norman Holt Sr. got the Legends to go to work early, and East Kaua‘i jumped out to a quick lead. The Legends defense forced the Aces to struggle at the plate. The Legends peppered the outfield with hits allowing for run-scoring rallies and built a big lead. They limited the visitors to a solo run in a short game. East Kaua‘i picked up a solid 18-1 win.
Rookies remain undefeated
The plumeria-lined softball stadium in ‘Ele‘ele hosted a standing-room-only crowd for four games and some classic match-ups. The two undefeated league leaders would be in action in the opening games.
The Rookies started the day going up against Da Kruzers.
The Rookies paved their way to a perfect record over the first seven weeks and looked to continue in the breakfast contest. Da Kruzers have been playing their best season in their young history and came into the game eager for an upset. Da Kruzers found their hitting sticks and are generating more runs for each game. Against the solid defense of the Rookies, they manufactured eight runs. The tiny confines of ‘Ele‘ele are tailor-made for long-ball hitters, and the Rookies feature a line-up of long-ball launchers. Game balls were disappearing over the outfield walls bombarding the garden embankment in center field. The Rookies, using three monstrous home runs, put up runs in every inning on their way to an 18-8 win.
Gents top Rebels, remain undefeated
The second game had the ‘Ohana Motors Rebels welcoming the Keonimana Gents in a much-anticipated battle.
Both teams feature top-to-bottom hitters in their line-up. And both clubs feature excellent pitchers. The Gents took advantage of their first at-bat with five quick runs on seven hits and an error. The Rebels didn’t answer until the bottom of the third, trailing by 10 runs. A grand slam home run got ‘Ohana Motors back into the game at 10-4, but that was the end of the story. Keonimana continued to hammer the ball, racking up another nine runs over the final four innings while holding the Rebels in check. The Gents remain undefeated at the top of the league after the 19-6 win.
A’s win in
convincing fashion
Solid Steel took the field in the next game pitted against the Aloha Kia Lihu‘e A’s. This classic match-up with the upcoming power hitters on Solid Steel challenging the stealthy veteran hitting and glovework of the A’s. Dwight Fujii got the A’s to turn in another solid game covering the field and limiting the offensive opportunities. Lihu‘e ran wild on the basepaths, setting up scores. Solid Steel was able to turn off the scoring valve and hold the A’s at 11 runs, but could not get past one run of their own. Lihu‘e could not come up with the two runs needed to end the game early, but they did keep Solid Steel in the distance over seven innings with a convincing 11-1 win.
Kawaihau thumps
West Kaua‘i
The early afternoon game had West Kaua‘i taking on Kawaihau. The diminutive ballpark allowed Kawaihau to take deep dives into the allies and get on top at the outset. West Kaua‘i answered with a pair of runs to keep things close. The difference in the game came with Kawaihau’s continued work at the plate while keeping West Kaua‘i in check. Kawaihau’s fence-bashing blasts pushed them to the 12-run advantage in the fifth to give them a 14-2 victory.
I have mixed feelings about this. But i guess if the kids can have spring break and spread the corona virus all over the place its fine that the older guys are getting into the act soon as well. But fresh air is good. Just not in groups. How can you social distance playing baseball? Howe many hands have touched the ball and the bat? Was there any of that famous baseball spitting going on? Were people coughing or sneezing? Were there hugs and slaps and high-fives? How about yelling and cheering? All ways to spew the coronavirus into the air, or get it on your hands. Were people rubbing their faces, to get sweat off, or blow their noses? Yeah. I thought about it. Not good. And not good to promote it in the paper either. And all of these people are the age category that ends up the most sick. Garden Island Newspaper needs to take more responsibility for what they are promoting and doing right now. Seriously. Stop promoting group activities of more than ten poeple at a time without social distancing and proper sanitation procedures . Its just wrong.