KAILUA-KONA – Under the lights at the Old Kona Airport Park, with AC/DC playing over the loudspeaker, the aroma of barbecue in the air and the spring sun setting in the distance, Little League baseball made its long-awaited return to Kona Friday.
No April Fools.
“I am so stoked to see everybody here and excited to play,” said West Side Hawaii Little League president Nic Mount. “It feels like the whole community’s out. There’s well over 1000 people here right now all having an awesome time.”
Friday’s opening ceremony showcased the more than 400 players from 30 West Side Hawaii Little League teams. Special guests making appearances included musician Anuhea to sing the Star-Spangled Banner and Hawaii Pono’i and Hawaii County mayor Mitch Roth, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch before an exhibition contest between the West Side Hawaii and Ka’u juniors teams.
“This is why I love this community so much,” said Mount. “We can have so many people like this and it’s just awesome. We have over 400 registered and background-checked volunteers. That’s almost 1:1 kids to volunteers; it’s amazing, it shows you how good the Kona community is… I would borderline say this is a dream come true.”
While the tee ball and coach pitch teams started in February, Friday marked the first in-game competition for the older divisions including Majors, Minors, Intermediate, Juniors and Seniors.
“When Ka’u Little League and North Hawaii Little League from Waimea and Waikoloa heard about what we were doing, they wanted to get involved,” added Mount. “It’s an exhibition, scrimmage type thing just to get their feet wet.”