MMililani’s Kaimana Souza-Paaluhi proved it can be done.
The Trojans outfielder hit a deep home run over the right field fence against Pearl City in the first round of the Wally Yonamine Foundation / HHSAA State Baseball tournament at Les Murakami, the only ball hit out of the yard by a schoolboy this year.
When Maryknoll and Aiea hook up in tonight’s Division II championship game and Campbell and Mid-Pacific follow, don’t expect to see a repeat of Souza-Paaluhi’s heroics.
Sure, all four teams have a certain amount of power. But taking a ball deep at the House that Les built has been an almost impossible task when the lights shine brightest.
Only Keahi Rawlins of 1999 Molokai has breached the fence at the yard, and teammate Kelii Alcon had an inside-the-park job. In fact, nobody has hit a home run in a title game since Punahou’s Kainoa Crowell hit one at Iron Maehara Stadium in 2010.
Home runs in a state championship game:
Kainoa Crowell, 2010 Punahou, Iron Maehara Stadium
Johnny Dudoit, 2000 Molokai, Iron Maehara Stadium
Keahi Rawlins, 1999 Molokai, Rainbow Stadium
Kelii Alcon, 1999 Molokai, inside the park, Rainbow Stadium
Franz Yeun, 1989 Punahou, 2 homers one of them inside the park, at Aloha Stadium
Byron Rillon, 1985 Hilo, 340 feet, Aloha Stadium
Derrick Oyama, 1983 Iolani, inside the park, Aloha Stadium
Tim Coleman, 1983 Castle, Aloha Stadium
Chad Saki, 1982 Maui, Aloha Stadium
Alvin Asuncion, 1976 McKinley, inside the park, Aloha Stadium
Tom Williams, 1968 Punahou, 370 feet, Honolulu Stadium
Keith Kasparovitch, 1968 Punahou, 350 feet, Honolulu Stadium
Mike Yanagida, 1960 Saint Louis , 335 feet, Honolulu Stadium
So we can pretty much safely say that cars driving down the road behind the outfield fence will be unscathed. We are more likely to see a shutout.
Both title games featured dominant pitchers last year, with Pono Anderson of Saint Louis throwing a 2-hit shutout over five innings and Josh Muneno of Maryknoll pitching a one-hitter in the Division II game. Add in Chase Uyema‘s performance in 2013 for Maryknoll, and three of the last four championships have been blankings. The other one was a 1-run gem by Mid-Pacific’s Trey Saito.
With Campbell expected to throw Dorrien Hermosura tonight, it is not out of the realm of possibility that the big guy can add his name to both of these lists.
First pitch in the Division II game is at 4 p.m., with the main event to follow.
Shutouts in a state championship game:
2014 Saint Louis Pono Anderson, 5 inn., 2 hits, 1 K, 1 BB.
2014 Maryknoll Josh Muneno, 7 inn., 1 hit, 0 Ks, 2 BB.
2013 Maryknoll Chase Uyema, 5 inn., 4 hits, 3 Ks, 1 BB.
2008 Kauai David Jordan Buster, 7 inn., 3 hits, 8 Ks.
2008 Punahou Reece Kiriu, 7 inn, 3 hits, 8 ks
2004 Punahou, Jared Pate, 7 inn., 3 hits, 6 ks, 1 bb.
1975 Iolani: Nolan Arakawa, 9 inn, 4 hits, 9 ks, 11 bbs.
1972 Punahou: Glenn Goya, 9 inn., 0 hits, 0 bbs, 8 Ks PERFECT GAME!
1969 Kailua : Charlie Sedillo, 9 ip, 4 hits, 5 ks, 3 bbs
1964 Punahou: Greg Taylor, 9 ip, 3 hits, 0 bbs, 6 ks.
1963 Farrington: Gordon Shimizu , 9 ip, 3 hits, 2 bbs, 6 Ks, 4 hbp
1961 Punahou: Norbie Mendes, 9 inn., 4 hits, 1 bb, 5 ks.
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