Now that the State Baseball Tournament is over...

Congratulations to Kauai and Punahou, the champions of the Division II and Division I State Baseball tournament. Kauai had solid pitching throughout to beat St. Anthony's of Maui to win the 1-0 contest and take the first ever DII crown. Pitching was solid for Kauai. Jordan Buster picked up the complete game win for the Red Raiders, scattering three hits and striking out eight.

Make it 5 consecutive years that the Buffanblu have taken the title in the state baseball tournament. All Punahou needed was a four-run second inning to take the lead over Saint Louis, and Reece Kiriu did the rest. Kiriu also threw a complete game, striking out eight and allowing only three hits.

Our Big Island teams lasted through the first day and a half of the tournament. But we made some loud noise, especially on the first day. Remember when Kamehameha-Hawaii knocked out Kailua, which many people took to be a big surprise? How's about Blaise Kise's performance for Kohala on opening day, shutting down Kahuku in a fine pitching performance? For another year, we didn't make it to the final four in the state tournament, but we had some solid efforts.

Finally, let's see what the HHSAA learned from this year, especially with the introduction of the DII tournament. Surely, they will find things that they need to improve and fix, including the lack of working scoreboards at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park. Speaking of which....

I was talking to one of the scorers at Les Murakami Stadium about the very subject of CORP, and she said, and I quote, "Thank Mayor Jeremy Harris" in a sarchastic tone. Yep, this was his project. She added that the restrooms were too far away, and there wasn't enough planning put in to this park.

Sure, it has almost everything. 4 Baseball fields, at least. Little league parks, softball fields, tennis courts, pool. It is the hub for everyone in Waipio to enjoy the outdoor lifestyle. But, it seems like they left some things short.

First rule of putting together a tournament, in my opinion. You must hold it in a place where 1) the scoreboards work, and 2) you have an official scorekeeper at every field. There was one set of scorers for EVERY game at Les Murakami Stadium, meanwhile at CORP, they relied on different people to do it, usually stats people from the different schools. Come on, this is the finale to the baseball season. Let's do this RIGHT.

Is holding the DII tournament on the neighbor islands a viable possibility? Leave your comments and we will discuss here and on the air.