Post-season WW Baseball Race: Anything Could Happen
With every game critical in the race to baseball playoffs, this week looks big for Castle, Kailua, Kahuku and Kalaheo. A preview of their games, all at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, is below.
Kailua at Moanalua
Since Moanalua’s lone loss in the first round of league play was to Kailua, a win here would be huge for the Surfriders, who would then own the tie-breaker by way of their head-to-head meetings when it comes to playoff seeding in two weeks. Moreover, Kailua’s 7-3 win over
Moanalua March 10 looks even more significant now that the league race has entered the stretch run. Both teams entered last weekend tied atop Red East standings at 5-1. Kailua’s lone defeat was a 1-0 road loss to Roosevelt March 21, but it rebounded in a big way to beat Kaiser 5-3 last Wednesday. Kailua has moved to the top of the league behind its pitching as well as timely hitting at the plate. At the Red East’s midway point, it already had seven innings in which it scored two runs or more. Moanalua has bounced back nicely from its loss to Kailua, with a four-game win streak heading into last weekend’s Kalani game. Miscues were largely Moanalua’s undoing the first time, as it committed a season-high seven errors.
Kalani at Kalaheo
Every game is critical now for both of these teams. Kalaheo trailed Castle by a game in the battle for the last Red East playoff spot, heading into last weekend, while Kalani was a game back in the mix for the title behind both Kailua and Moanalua. Despite a 0-6 record during the first round of play, Kalaheo is only a few plays away from a much-better record, having dropped heartbreakers to Roosevelt 5-3, Kalani 3-2 and Moanalua 4-3. Following this Kalani game, Kalaheo will begin a rugged four-game stretch to close out the season against Castle (Saturday, away), Kailua (April 9, at home), Kaiser (April 16, at home) and Moanalua (April 19, away).
Castle at Kaiser
This should be a key week for the Knights as they look to secure a berth in the OIA post-season tourney. With a one-game lead over Kalaheo for the last spot (as of last weekend), a win here would be huge for Castle, which also has a much-anticipated matchup with the Mustangs Saturday. The schedule might help the Knights’ push to make the post-season, as the team will play three of its last four games at home. Like Kalaheo, Kaiser’s record doesn’t reflect how well it’s played. Three of its setbacks – to Roosevelt 9-8, Moanalua 7-5 and Kailua 5-3 – have been in games that they were in a position to win.
Kahuku at Waianae
Just when it looked like Waianae might run the table in the OIA White, the Seasiders were brought back to planet Earth by Nanakuli in a 8-7 loss. Even so, Waianae still was tied with Radford atop the league standings heading into last weekend and must beat Kahuku to keep pace. The Seariders enter this game as the highest-scoring team in the league, averaging 16 runs per game. For their part, the Red Raiders are getting better with each game, especially after its late start because of difficulty finding a coach. Kahuku just missed defeating Kaimuki, losing 13-12, and was only a couple plays away from beating Mc-Kinley in a 5-3 defeat.
jackster.1969@yahoo.com
