Hawaii Tribune-Herald · Jul 8, 2015
PONY: Hilo coach-pitch squad sets gold standard
Hilo already had collected 20 hits, but it still needed one more, when Jaziah O‘ili hit a blooper to short left.
First it was caught, then it wasn’t and what followed must have seemed like it took much more than a split second to coach Shon Malani. The ball popped out of one glove and almost fell into another.
When it didn’t, the Hilo Gold won two for the price of one.
Hilo rallied to beat Waianae Red 10-9 on O‘ili’s hit to win the state Pinto coach-pitch title in Wailuku, Maui.
After winning one for the thumb, Malani said the word is out on Hilo. It’s got street cred, but it’s developing a bad reputation.
“We kind of had the Oahu teams cheering against us,” he said. “We excepted the challenge.”