KAPA‘A — “Go find the bird in the tree,” the call from Honolulu Majors Coach Gerald Oda rang out from the third-base coaches’ box Wednesday during the first inning of the Hawai‘i Little League State Majors Tournament championship game at the main diamond inside the Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Complex in Kapa‘a. “This is a great day.”
With one away and two runners aboard, Honolulu Majors’ Daly Watson found the bird on a 3-run home run and Honolulu jumped to an early 3-0 lead over Kawaihau Community Little League Majors All Stars.
During the fourth inning, Honolulu Majors’ Ka‘eo Nouchi, Luke Hiromoto, pitcher Jaron Lancaster and firstbase Esiah Wong, a frequent hit-by-pitch target during the five-day tournament, joined Watson in finding the birds with home runs.
Honolulu shut down Kawaihau, 10-0, with the final four back-to-back-to-back-to-back HRs that opened the Honolulu fourth inning and closed the game on the 10-run ruling.
Oda said finding the bird in the tree is a drill the team uses to train the boys to focus.
“See how far away the tree is?” the coach asked. “There’s a bird in there. They have to find it. It takes focus like that when you look at a pitch.”
In the shutdown, Honolulu pitcher Jaron Lancaster, who also whacked one of the five team home runs, held Kawaihau to just four hits while walking one batter and striking out five.
On the offense, Honolulu generated three runs fueled by Watson’s homer in the first, added three more runs in the third, and closed the game with four back-to-back-to-back-to-back solo home runs in the fourth inning.
Wong, the Honolulu first baseman, scored three times and had the game-ending solo shot. Lancaster singled and homered, scoring twice for Honolulu.
Ashton Leanio-Balagat, Tyrian Kaleiohi, Kingston Sugimoto and Kaleb Panui found hits against Lancaster for Kawaihau.
With the win, Honolulu claims the Hawai‘i Little League State title and will advance to the West Regionals in San Bernardino, California Aug. 6 through 12. The winner of the West Regionals advances to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania Aug. 17 to 28.
