HANAPEPE — The Kaua‘i Senior Softball League used a sun-drenched weekend to turn the corner and head into the home stretch of the season.
The Keonimana Gents are one step away from a seventh-consecutive championship after a single-game left on the schedule.
The Gents had four games at the Pat Baniaga Softball Stadium were decisive victories.
The Peter Rayno Park had three wild contests.
Barteks blank West Kaua‘i
The Barteks took the field against West Kaua‘i with the sunrise in Hanapepe. Shapa Ramos has Barteks were in sharp command of their games and made short work of veterans on the hill.
The Barteks silenced the West Kaua‘i bats with a suffocating defense. Their offense generated 17 runs in their 17-0 shutout victory.
The Rookies dominate East Kaua‘i
The Rookies are hot on the Gents’ trail with just one loss during the regular season to the Gents.
The second game had the East Kaua‘i Legends traveling west to host The Rookies. The Legends continue to play good ball for coach Skippa Holt but had their hands full with The Rookies. East Kaua‘i found enough to put four runs on the board.
The Rookies produced 23 runs to take a 23-4 lead to remain one game behind the Gents in the Senior League standings.
Ohana dominates Aces
Ohana secured their spot in the league standings with a decisive win over Kuku’s Aces. Tony Rapozo’s line-up for Ohana hammered out a 12-run advantage to secure the win. Kuku’s crew can still manufacture runs bringing home four scores.
Ohana maintained their climb in the standings behind a solid 16-4 victory.
Gents knockout A’s
The Keonimana Gents manufactured ten runs by the Aloha Kia Lihue A’s in the early afternoon contest to conclude a long day of softball. The Gents were not phased by the output and answered with a steady barrage of their own. Keonimana hammered away to score 22 times and secured no less than a tie for the League Title with an impressive 22-10 knockout.
Kawaihau pitching shuts down Hillsiders
The Peter Rayno Park in Hanamaulu featured three exciting games with leftover fireworks. The Hillsiders took the home field going up against Kawaihau in the sunrise contest. Credit is due to the Hanamaulu recruiting additional players to fill their injury-plagued lineup.
Peter Rayno did a great job of avoiding a forfeit game. Kawaihau got sterling pitching and some timely hitting to pounce on the Hillsiders and eventually pull away with an insurmountable lead. They were leading by enough to close the deal in five innings on a 19-6 victory.
Da Kruzers top Solid Steel in thriller
Solid Steel and Da Kruzers matched up in the mid-morning game and fought their way through a nail bitter. Tom Christy’s Steel looked like they would run away with the match knocking in a couple of runs to start the game.
Da Kruzers countered with a very stingy defense and stopped Solid Steel in their tracks. In one of the season’s tightest games, the two went at it for seven innings as Solid Steel managed a single run the rest of the way. Da Kruzers slugged away and finally got on the scoreboard posting a pair of runs.
At the top of the seventh down by one, Da Kruzers mounted a rally putting the tying and winning runs on base. Solid Steel held off the rally stranding the runners and prevented the score from capturing a 3-2 thriller.
Islanders edge Ohana Motors
The morning concluded with the Islanders continuing their red hot streak taking on the Ohana Motors Rebels. Islander pitcher, Pastor Nate Hanohano, handcuffed the Rebels the first time through the line up while his team jumped out to a 6-0 lead after two innings.
The Rebel hitters broke through and tightened the game. The point switched hands a few times, with the Islanders able to take advantage of Rebels errors to carve out another lead.
The Rebels turned things around in the bottom of the sixth inning with five runs to go ahead 14-12 headed into the final inning. Joe Bertucci’s Islanders went to work, scoring relentlessly over the hapless Rebels.
They pounded out seven big runs to take a 19-14 lead. Hanohano finished the game in style, shutting down any hope for the Rebels retiring the side for a big comeback win for the Islanders at 19-14.
On Deck
The Kaua‘i Senior Softball League will close out the first round of play and end the season with a big four-dame day in Wailua and a triple-header of action in ʻEleʻele.
The Keonimana Gents will capture its seventh-straight championship with a critical match-up against Barteks to conclude the long day at the Wailua Houselots. The morning opens with Da Druzers looking for a winning meeting up with the Hanamaulu Hillsiders. Kawaihau will take on the Ohana Motors Rebels in the brunch meeting, followed by West Kauai hosting the East Kaua‘i Legends. The final game of the morning will feature the Gents and Barteks.
At the Plumeria Palace in Ele‘ele, the Islanders will extend their streak closing out the season with Ohana’s date. Kuku’s Aces have the Aloha Kia Lihue A’s to deal with in the mid-morning contest, and the season comes to a close when the Rookies go to battle with Solid Steel.
The Keonimana Gents stand alone at the top of the league with a 12-0 record and can claim the title outright with a win over Barteks on Saturday.
The Rookies are hoping for a different outcome, just a game back at 11-1, but they need help. Barteks is in third with a 10-2 record.
The Ohana Motors Rebels fell out of the tie with their loss and are now at 9-3. The Aloha Kia Lihue A’s, Kawaihau, and Ohana are all knotted in fifth place with 7-5 records. The Islanders evened their season record at 6-6 with their big win and are now in eighth- place in the league. East Kaua‘i Legends are at 4-8, followed by Solid Steel at 5-7. Da Kruzers fell Kawaihau to 3-9 after several close losses, and the Hanamaulu Hillsiders, Kuku’s Aces, and West Kaua‘i stand pat at 1-11.
