Hilo already had collected 20 hits, but it still needed one more, when Jaziah O‘ili hit a blooper to short left.
First it was caught, then it wasn’t and what followed must have seemed like it took much more than a split second to coach Shon Malani. The ball popped out of one glove and almost fell into another.
When it didn’t, the Hilo Gold won two for the price of one.
Hilo rallied to beat Waianae Red 10-9 on O‘ili’s hit to win the state Pinto coach-pitch title in Wailuku, Maui.
After winning one for the thumb, Malani said the word is out on Hilo. It’s got street cred, but it’s developing a bad reputation.
“We kind of had the Oahu teams cheering against us,” he said. “We excepted the challenge.”
Of the eight state PONY titles handed out in the past eight days, five were won by Hilo, including two Malani-coached teams who have combined for three titles. The Hilo High graduate and former USC baseball player is used to heart-stopping finishes ending in celebration.
“You thought the Broncos 11 was bad?” Malani said in a phone interview. “This was worse.
“Where do I begin?”
For starters, a Hilo team had never won a coach-pitch state title. This group of 8-year-olds went 7-0 on Maui, with the first two victories coming as it swept the player-pitch title. They’re leaving next Monday to go to regionals in player-pitch, but the coach-pitch fun ends here.
While the player-pitch title was easy – Hilo outscored Maui 21-1 – coach-pitch was the opposite. Hilo played three one-run games, including two against Waianae Red.
“This age group is very competitive,” Malani said. “There is only coach-pitch league. There is no Little League or Cal Ripken at this age. It’s the best of the best.”
Malani’s Bronco 11s team won a state title June 29 by scoring a run in its last at-bat after blowing a big lead, but Tuesday’s game somehow managed to be more suspenseful.
Malani credited his team’s defense all tournament long, but things “spiraled out of control” in its first bad inning. In the top of the sixth, Waianae scored seven times to erase a 9-2 deficit.
Hilo would have lost the lead if not for an “unbelievable” sliding catch by O‘ili in center to end the inning.
O‘ili also took center stage in the bottom of the sixth after Tait Labra, Landyr Ishii and Braden Gomes singled to load the bases, and he stepped to the plate with two outs.
“He had himself a day,” Malani said of O‘ili, who finished with three hits.
In coach-pitch, batters are only allowed six pitches. Assistant coach Jason Mandaquit’s fifth pitch was near the dirt. His sixth offering was up in the strike zone, but O‘ili hit just beyond the shortstop, who dove had the ball until he lost it when his glove hit the ground. The charging left-fielder almost caught the ricochet, but it fell harmlessly to the ground.
Jason Mandaquit Jr., Clemson Julian, Ishii and O‘ili had three hits apiece.
“They knew what they were playing for,” Malani said. “There were tears of joy.
“They gave us a wonderful ride.”
It’s not over yet, nor for three other Hilo teams.
Also on the Hilo Pintos are Brayden Malani, Linken Batalona, Khaelan Nakapaahu, Jaiden-Lee Gabriel, Josiah Williams and Ivor Brooks. Malani also is assisted by Shawn Brooks and Randal Ishii.