KAPA‘A — Pearl City’s Riley Omine finished Friday with three hits, five runs driven in and scored twice against Hilo during the opening game of the Hawai‘i Little League 50/70 state tournament at Kawaihau Community Little League Pony baseball field at the Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Complex.
Omine, who started with Pearl City by handling mound chores, was part of the Pearl City effort that saw the purple shirts erupt for four runs in the third inning, and five runs in the fourth inning toward its 13-3 win over Hilo in a game shortened by the 10-run ruling.
Pearl City took a 4-0 lead following two innings of play after plating three runs in the first frame, and adding another run in the second.
With no outs in the top of the fourth, Hilo marked three runs in answer to the deficit, the first run scoring on an intentional walk to S. Ofisa to score C. Leopoldino. Hilo catcher R. Garza whacked into a two-run single before Pearl City clamped down with a double play.
Joining Omine, Pearl City got efforts from B. Schwager, who scored three times and marked two hits. T. Takahashi also scored three times and finished with two hits. K. Onamura, getting aboard twice by walks, also crossed the plate three times in the win.
The second game in the 50/70 tournament featured host Kawaihau Little League matching mettle against Central Maui. Results of that game were not available as of press time.
At the same time frame, the Hawai‘i Little League opened the Senior state tournament at the Kapa‘a High School baseball field featuring teams from Districts 1, 3 and 6.
District 1 host Kawaihau will see action as soon as Saturday, when it meets the winner of the District 3 and District 6 contest.
The championship contest for the Senior tournament is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The championship contest for the 50/70 tournament that is playing for the first time following about five years of no tournament, is scheduled to play on Monday starting at noon.
