The 2022 Hawaii Kupuna Softball League season was a very successful one for the Kona Legends, but it was a very unusual one as well. It ended with the Legends winning the State championship by beating perennial Oahu powerhouse Aikane by a score of 22-10. To get to that game however, there were a number of things that went the Legends way throughout the season.
The Legends finished the regular season in a tie for first place with Hilo Pomaika’i, with identical 40-2 records. Both of the Legends losses were to Pomaika’i as the teams headed into the three game Hawaii County Tournament. The County Tournament is held at the end of the regular season, just before the State Tournament. Both teams went 1 and 1 in their first two games and ended up facingeach other for third place in the County Tournament, but that game would actually determine the overall 2022 League champion. The game was tied and wentinto an extra inning. Pomaika’i scored three runs in the top of the inning and itlooked like they would win the title again. In the Legends half of the inning, with one out, having already scored one run, they had two men on base. Steve Tanaka then stepped to the plate and crushed a three run walk off home run to win the game, and allowed the Legends to get the top seed in the State Tournament.
During the regular season, the Legends won all four games that they played against Pueo and Kona Gold, the teams that finished third and fourth place in the League. They won those four games by a total of five runs and Legends coach Stan Grahovac would not let the team forget that they could have easily lost all four games and ended up much lower in the final League standings.
The Legends regular season was marked with player absences due to illness, injury, mainland trips, work and other assorted reasons, but the game day lineup always consisted of at least 10 players. They never had the same lineup for more than two weeks in a row. Grahovac’s philosophy of “Any ten, we win,” was tested throughout the season. Also going right for the Legends were their three designated substitutes. These subs were players that didn’t want to play full time, but were on-call as needed (and they were needed a lot) and they came through incredibly well, especially considering that they were 70, 76, and 77 years young. Without them, the season definitely would have turned out differently.
Having Joan Chong as their scorekeeper was an absolute blessing to the team. Joan’s husband Warren is one of the Legends players and Joan attended most of the games, even if Warren wasn’t able to be there. She not only kept score, but reminded players where they were hitting in the batting order and alerted the defense where the opposing batters last hit the ball. She also made sure there were fruits and snacks for the team to enjoy between games of their weekly double headers. When she missed the rare game, things just didn’t flow smoothly at all. Without even taking the field, Joan was a huge factor in the success the Legends enjoyed this season.
Team chemistry can make or break teams. The players on the Legends roster all understood and accepted their roles, and were on board with doing whatever was best for the team. Everybody on the team got along well with each other, butmost importantly, they had fun. The Little League World Series Champions from
Honolulu had a motto that they followed: “We>Me.” When players put the team’s needs before their own, it shows their commitment to the team’s success, which is exactly what the Legends entire roster did this season.
Inspirational sayings can work for all teams, no matter how young or old they
may be. In a season that was the most successful ever in their nine year history, things simply went the Kona Legends way this time. As coach Grahovac said with a smile, “Every bump in the road was rolled over and conquered, even if it was at kupuna speed.”
