PONY baseball: Grace’s girl power shines despite Kona loss

Lil Soljahs made another memorable appearance at the state PONY League tournament, only this one didn’t end with a happy ending.

The Kona Broncos led going into the bottom of the seventh Sunday, but Kapolei tied the game on a controversial collision at the plate, one misplay led to another, and Lil Soljahs was bounced 9-8 at Walter Victor Stadium.

But neither the eventful final inning nor home runs by Kona’s Isaac Kaku or Kapolei’s Earl Lopes and Keila Kamoku provided the most dramatic at-bat of a game that was chock full of them.

That honor belonged to Shaylann Grace. In the top of the sixth inning, girl power took over when Grace pinch-hit with runners on second and third with two outs in a tie game and Kamoku on the mound.

“I didn’t want to leave those runners hanging,” Grace said. “Pressure, I was scared I was going to strike out.”

That notion only intensified after she took a feeble swing for strike one and was scolded by coach Jerry Hiraishi. Grace got behind in the count 1-2, but she stayed alive by fouling off four pitches.

“She kept throwing me curveballs,” Grace said.

Kamoku finally threw a fastball, and Grace ripped it in the hole between third and short to bring in two runners, and when the ball was misplayed in the outfield and rolled to the fence, Grace had clear sailing to home plate.

One problem.

“Second base,” Grace said.

She hurt her leg stepping on the corner of the base, and her mad dash turned into a hobbled jog home.

But she made it and remained in the game, and Kapolei coach Niobel Santos made it a point to congratulate her when she switched defensively from first to third base.

“That was a great at-bat,” Santos said. “It was awesome to see two girls go at it in an 11-12 baseball game.”

Kamoku homered in the bottom of the sixth and Kona couldn’t protect a one-run lead in the seventh. Reliever Kainoa Jones struck out the first two batters of the inning, but the second reached when the ball got away toward the backstop.

The key play of the game occurred when Jones induced a fly ball that was overran in the outfield. In the play at the plate, the Kapolei runner was called safe when he appeared to make an attempt to knock the ball loose from catcher Drew Basque, a violation.

Hiraishi didn’t object to the play because PONY doesn’t have a slide rule. PONY officials said afterward he could have asked the umpires to consult each other, which could have led to an automatic out and ejection.

Kapolei scampered home with the winning run on a wild pitch.

“That’s baseball,” Hiraishi said. “We just came up short.”

Hiraishi was an assistant coach last year on a Lil Soljahs team that didn’t. His son, Kallen, coached a Mustang 9s team to the state title and a berth in the World Series.

Grace was one of three girls on this year’s team. Her cousin Jayla Medeiros, a two-time NFL Punt, Pass & Kick champion, and Nanea Kalua’u also played Sunday.

“They can hang with the boys,” Hiraishi said.

The sport is in Grace’s genes. One brother, Shelton, just wrapped up his baseball career at Konawaena, while another, Phillip, was a sophomore last spring for the Wildcats. Her mother, Shellie is the Wildcats’ softball coach.

”I prefer baseball,” Shaylann Grace said. “More competition.”

Hilo bronco 11s rips windward to reach finals

One after another, as if part of a carefully orchestrated regimen, the Hilo Bronco 11s stepped to the plate, patiently waited for their pitch and made solid contact to reach base.

It could have been the the sight of Hilo having its way, or the hot, predatory sun, but a Windward fan finally lost his cool, shouting, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Yes, coach Shon Malani’s bunch does have a way of getting under an opponent’s skin.

“Too much small-ball,” Malani said.

Just too much hitting period.

One day after they came up one hit short against Mililani, the Broncos 11s went on overload, overwhelming Windward 22-11 to reach the finals of the state PONY League tournament at Walter Victor Stadium.

Hilo faces Mililani at 11:30 a.m. Monday and needs a win to force a winner-take-all in the afternoon.

The Bronco 11s spread their 19 hits, with leadoff hitter Blane Baclig leading the way with four. He scored four runs.