LIHU‘E — Day Two of the Protect Our Nation’s Youth baseball tournament was a good one for the Lihu‘e Bronco All-Star team, which bumped its record to 2-0 with an 11-1 victory over hometown Hilo, Saturday on the Big Island.
LIHU‘E — Day Two of the Protect Our Nation’s Youth baseball tournament was a good one for the Lihu‘e Bronco All-Star team, which bumped its record to 2-0 with an 11-1 victory over hometown Hilo, Saturday on the Big Island.
The victory kept Lihu‘e as one of the two remaining unbeaten teams in the Bronco division, consisting of players ages 11-12.
The other team at 2-0 is Ewa Ewa, which was a 14-0 winner over Waianae after a 20-1 win over Kona on Friday.
The Lihu‘e Broncos will now have today off before Monday’s 10 a.m. game against Ewa Ewa.
The day was not as positive for the Lihu‘e Mustangs, made up of nine- and 10-year-olds, who suffered their first loss in a 9-6 defeat at the hands of Waianae.
Each tournament is double-elimination, with both Lihu‘e teams still alive.
Saturday saw the end to two teams in each tournament, as the Maui and Kona Broncos were each knocked out, as well as the Maui and Big Island Mustangs.
Ko‘olau was a 10-1 winner of the Maui Broncos, handing them their second loss. Mililani dispensed with the Kona Broncos by a 4-3 score to send them home.
Mililani knocked out the Maui Mustangs, 10-1, while Makakilo-Kapolei was a 15-10 winner over Big Island.
The Aiea Mustangs were a 7-2 winner over Hilo, to move to 2-0.
Each tournament will play down to three teams today, with three elimination games scheduled in each.
The Lihu‘e Mustangs will get the day started with a 9 a.m. game against Makakilo-Kapolei. With each team at 1-1, the loser’s tournament will be over.
The same goes for Hilo and Mililani in the other elimination game at 11:30 a.m.
The winners of those two contests will play at 2 p.m., hoping to advance to Monday’s final of the loser’s bracket.
For the Broncos, Waianae will play Ko‘olau at 9 a.m., followed by Hilo and Mililani at 11:30 a.m. The winners will then play at 2 p.m.
If the Lihu‘e Broncos can avoid losing two games and become PONY state champions, they will advance to the Western Zone competition in California, where a berth in the PONY World Series will be at stake.
The Lihu‘e Mustangs can still accomplish the same feat, but they must win the remainder of their games to do so.
Teams will be back on the field today at the Walter Victor Baseball Complex in Hilo.
