Sunday, November 08, 2009
Search
Blogs
HiLife Online 
Reader Poll
Most Read
- Educators accused of unethical conduct
- Case of baby who died in Customs heads to trial after failure to settle
- Desperate times at Aloha Stadium
- Retailers on guard as crooks ram vehicles into properties
- Feeding frenzy for UH backs
- Communication gaffe raises fuss in chief selection
- Calls for tax hike piling on reluctant lawmakers
- Hawaii busts up Utah State 49-36
- Warriors find winning formula
- State welfare payouts drop as numbers of needy grow
- Amis out indefinitely for UH men's basketball
Hawaii Winter Baseball
BeachBoys bust out
Buster Posey's three-run homer helps Waikiki claim its first HWB championship
STORY SUMMARY | READ THE FULL STORYThe $6 million man was money yesterday.
Catcher Buster Posey, the No. 5 overall draft pick by the San Francisco Giants in June, launched a three-run shot 365 feet over the right-field wall with two outs in the seventh to clinch the Hawaii Winter Baseball championship for the Waikiki BeachBoys.
Posey's first homer of the season was just one of several clutch performances against the West Oahu CaneFires that helped give Waikiki its first title in three consecutive championship-game appearances.
"It was a great win, a great team effort," BeachBoys manager Juan Bustabad said after the 5-1 victory at Les Murakami Stadium. "My MVP has to be Posey. He hit over .350 this season."
Posey, whose $6.2 million upfront bonus was an MLB record, was named the all-star team's utility player. At one point hitting over .470, he finished at .351.
The MVP award went to West Oahu second baseman Mark Hallberg, and Satoshi Nagai of the Honolulu Sharks was named the top pitcher.
FULL STORY >>
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 17, 2008
It went by quickly.
|
Not as quickly as Waikiki center fielder James McOwen got to the warning track in time to nab the long fly ball hit by Greg Burns of the West Oahu CaneFires in the bottom of the fourth.
The catch likely saved two runs as well as kept the BeachBoys ahead in yesterday's Hawaii Winter Baseball championship game.
Still, the seven weeks that constituted HWB's eighth season "came and went fast," league owner Duane Kurisu said. "It feels like it just started."
The short-season minor league concluded with Waikiki winning its first HWB title, riding timely hitting and the arms of left-hander Kazunori Yamamoto and righty Steven Richard en route to a 5-1 victory over West Oahu.
Yamamoto and Richard combined on a five-hitter, with Yamamoto picking up the win. In five innings he gave up a run on four hits, walked two and struck out six; Richard faced just 13 batters over the next four innings in earning the save.
"They hit the ball when it counted," West Oahu manager Mike Guerrero said. "They were able to score runs and their pitchers did a good job of keeping us off the bases.
"You've got to tip your hat to them. They did what they needed to do."
One of the biggest plays came in the bottom of the fourth with Waikiki clinging to a 2-1 lead. West Oahu had runners at first and second with one out when Burns drove the ball to deep center.
"I turned and ran, looked up for it and it was there," said McOwen, who took two steps before hitting the wall.
Instead of scoring one, possibly two, the CaneFires came away empty. They had two baserunners after that: Leadoff batter Miles Durham was stranded at second in the sixth, and a leadoff single by Matt Hallberg in the eighth went for naught when Waikiki turned a double play.
Second baseman Hallberg ended up with the MVP trophy, one of six West Oahu players named to the all-league team.
"It was an honor to come out here and play," Hallberg said. "I don't think you could ask for more as far as the Hawaiian atmosphere, the weather, the culture, the people."
The BeachBoys finished with an 8-4 edge in the series with the CaneFires.
"It was a good season," Kurisu said. "We were able to come back and play at Les Murakami Stadium and the quality of the talent was terrific.
"At the end of the day the important thing is the players and coaches had a terrific time. They like playing baseball here."
All-League Team
1B -- Yonder Alonso (Wai)2B -- Mark Hallberg (WO)
3B -- Bradley Emaus (Hon)
SS -- Kyle Martin (NS)
OF -- Kyle Peter (WO)
OF -- Cyle Hankerd (WO)
OF -- Dominic Brown (Hon)
C -- Jason Castro (NS)
U -- Buster Posey (Wai)
P -- Kyle Bloom (WO)
P -- Jeremy Bleich (Wai)
P -- Satoshi Nagai (Hon)
RP -- Kaimi Mead (Hon)
RP -- Jeremy Papelbon (Wai)
RP -- David Pfeiffer (Wai)
Pitcher of the year:
Satoshi Nagai (Hon)
Offensive player of year: Cyle Hankerd (WO)
Defensive player of year: Marquez Smith (Wai)
MVP: Mark Hallberg (WO)
BeachBoys 5, CaneFires 1
| Waikiki | AB | R | H | BI | West Oahu | AB | R | H | BI |
|
| McOwen cf | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Peter lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Posey c | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Hallberg 2b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
|
| Alonso 1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gindl rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Kieschnick lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Durham 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Frazier ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hankerd dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Sublett dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Skelton c | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Silverio rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Henson 3b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
|
| Smith 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Burns cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Thomas 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Friday ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
| Totals | 31 | 5 | 7 | 5 | Totals | 32 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Waikiki | 002 | 000 | 300 | -- | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| West Oahu | 010 | 000 | 000 | -- | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Waikiki | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|
| Yoshikawa (W, 1-0) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
|
| Richard (S, 1) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
| West Oahu | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|
| Scarpetta (L, 0-1) | 2 1/3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
|
| Cody | 3 2/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
| Kimura | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
|
| Bishop | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
It went by quickly.
|
Not as quickly as Waikiki center fielder James McOwen got to the warning track in time to nab the long fly ball hit by Greg Burns of the West Oahu CaneFires in the bottom of the fourth.
The catch likely saved two runs as well as kept the BeachBoys ahead in yesterday's Hawaii Winter Baseball championship game.
Still, the seven weeks that constituted HWB's eighth season "came and went fast," league owner Duane Kurisu said. "It feels like it just started."
The short-season minor league concluded with Waikiki winning its first HWB title, riding timely hitting and the arms of left-hander Kazunori Yamamoto and righty Steven Richard en route to a 5-1 victory over West Oahu.
Yamamoto and Richard combined on a five-hitter, with Yamamoto picking up the win. In five innings he gave up a run on four hits, walked two and struck out six; Richard faced just 13 batters over the next four innings in earning the save.
"They hit the ball when it counted," West Oahu manager Mike Guerrero said. "They were able to score runs and their pitchers did a good job of keeping us off the bases.
"You've got to tip your hat to them. They did what they needed to do."
One of the biggest plays came in the bottom of the fourth with Waikiki clinging to a 2-1 lead. West Oahu had runners at first and second with one out when Burns drove the ball to deep center.
"I turned and ran, looked up for it and it was there," said McOwen, who took two steps before hitting the wall.
Instead of scoring one, possibly two, the CaneFires came away empty. They had two baserunners after that: Leadoff batter Miles Durham was stranded at second in the sixth, and a leadoff single by Matt Hallberg in the eighth went for naught when Waikiki turned a double play.
Second baseman Hallberg ended up with the MVP trophy, one of six West Oahu players named to the all-league team.
"It was an honor to come out here and play," Hallberg said. "I don't think you could ask for more as far as the Hawaiian atmosphere, the weather, the culture, the people."
The BeachBoys finished with an 8-4 edge in the series with the CaneFires.
"It was a good season," Kurisu said. "We were able to come back and play at Les Murakami Stadium and the quality of the talent was terrific.
"At the end of the day the important thing is the players and coaches had a terrific time. They like playing baseball here."
All-League Team
1B -- Yonder Alonso (Wai)2B -- Mark Hallberg (WO)
3B -- Bradley Emaus (Hon)
SS -- Kyle Martin (NS)
OF -- Kyle Peter (WO)
OF -- Cyle Hankerd (WO)
OF -- Dominic Brown (Hon)
C -- Jason Castro (NS)
U -- Buster Posey (Wai)
P -- Kyle Bloom (WO)
P -- Jeremy Bleich (Wai)
P -- Satoshi Nagai (Hon)
RP -- Kaimi Mead (Hon)
RP -- Jeremy Papelbon (Wai)
RP -- David Pfeiffer (Wai)
Pitcher of the year:
Satoshi Nagai (Hon)
Offensive player of year: Cyle Hankerd (WO)
Defensive player of year: Marquez Smith (Wai)
MVP: Mark Hallberg (WO)
BeachBoys 5, CaneFires 1
| Waikiki | AB | R | H | BI | West Oahu | AB | R | H | BI |
|
| McOwen cf | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Peter lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Posey c | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Hallberg 2b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
|
| Alonso 1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gindl rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Kieschnick lf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Durham 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Frazier ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hankerd dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Sublett dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Skelton c | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Silverio rf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Henson 3b | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
|
| Smith 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Burns cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
| Thomas 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Friday ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
| Totals | 31 | 5 | 7 | 5 | Totals | 32 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Waikiki | 002 | 000 | 300 | -- | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| West Oahu | 010 | 000 | 000 | -- | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Waikiki | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|
| Yoshikawa (W, 1-0) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
|
| Richard (S, 1) | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
| West Oahu | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|
| Scarpetta (L, 0-1) | 2 1/3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
|
| Cody | 3 2/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
| Kimura | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
|
| Bishop | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Today’s Edition
- Damien celebrations draw to a close
- Calls for tax hike piling on reluctant lawmaker
- Retailers on guard as crooks ram vehicles into properties
- County pandemic plans to apply to overall state response strategy
- State welfare payouts drop as numbers of needy grow
- Earlier primary voting considered
- Whatever Happened To: Case of baby who died in Customs heads to trial after failure to settle
- Newswatch
- Police and Fire
- Shining Stars
- Vital Statistics
- What's open and closed on Veterans Day
- Trouble in Paradise
- Windfall is seen as bank bonuses are paid in stock
- Overweight Americans push back in the health care debate
- Handmade: Make your presence felt with 'Felties'
- Drawing attention
- Da Kine
- Scrivener's Sudoku: Army Community Hawaii
- Murakami's Calabash
- Warriors find winning formula
- Feeding frenzy for UH backs
- Porous run defense deflates Utah State
- Short snaps: UH vs. Utah State
- Further Review: Old-school running game keyed UH's feel-good win
- Amis out indefinitely with foot injury
- UH's Lee lifts Hawaii's spirit
- Farrington finds a way
- 'Iolani rolls Damien to prepare for states
- Hawaii Beat
- Scoreboard
- Television & Radio
- New kite business takes off
- Business briefs
- It's not too late to cut tax liability
- Hawaii Real Estate Sales
- Tracking Hawaii's student stock pickers
insideStarBulletin.com
