The KonaBaseball.com 2004 Season

MVP Sports bests Durty Jakes Pirates

Michaelangelos Mariners struggle but outlast Play-It-Again Drysdales

Canardlys can almost ... as usual

Steelers hammer Bubba Gumps Crimson Tide

Steelers send the Mariners a curve

Alson Kajikawa batted 2-for-4, scored twice, and paced the Steelers offensively to a 6-1 victory. Defensively, Active Steel's infield turned several double-plays, eliminating any threats by the Mariners. But the real story of the Sunday morning contest was the pitching debut of Sky Valenzuela who kept the mighty Mariners in check all day, including striking out the side in the third inning. The former Konawaena High School student, now at Kealakehe High School, yielded only three hits Sunday, and looks to be a real threat next year in BIIF league action. In the mean time, he is making everyone in the KonaBaseball.com adult league take notice and wonder if he's really Fernando Valenzuela.

The Michaelangelos Mariners, reigning KBdc champions, are reeling somewhat in season 2004 and have now dropped two consecutive games. Aaron Shapiro's double and solo score provided just about the only highlights for the Mariners as Joel Zwak suffered the loss.

Seeing the game slipping away, Mountain Thunder coach Randy Hill decided to try several untested pitchers and wannabe pitchers, none of whom could find the strike zone. The Pirates proceeded to take advantage of the situation.

Games rained out

Pirates take the Tide to the high seas

In the home half of the first inning, the Pirates batted around, plating six runs, then never looked back, eventually running out winners by the score of 14-1. Durty Jakes' former professional player Leo Perez led the Pirates both offensively and defensively, pitching a 3-hitter, batting 2 for 3, and scoring three times in a one-sided slugfest.

In overtime, Steelers' pitcher Paxton Chatfield came on in relief to notch the victory when his teammates rallied for four runs in their final offensive charge. In a last gasp, the Drysdales answered back with two runs of their own, but it was too little, too late. In the end, the Steelers remained undefeated in 2004, this time by the final score of 7-5.

The game was the swan song for Butch Chatfield of the Steelers (and graduating Kealakehe High School star catcher) who is off to begin basic training pursuant to his enlistment in the United States Marines.

Play-It-Again Drysdales double-up on Crimson Tide, 6-3

Behind the steady performance of Chris "Hardly-a-Mistake" Drake, the Play-it-Again Drysdales kept their noses in front of their opponents all game and were sparked by the offensive punch provided by Gabe Aispuro and Morgan Kruger-Burgess (who also came on in relief to record the save).

Being a holiday weekend, the Michaelangeos Mariners had trouble fielding a team. Nevertheless, the skeleton squad pulled together to notch a victory thanks to multiple scoring by Gabe Harris, Matt Collier, and Guy Newbury. The pitching honors went to starter Aaron Shapiro, with the save being earned by Matt Collier.

Canardlys give MVP Sports almost more than they can handle

MVP Sports' Tim O'Connell (the high school pitching coach of Hawaii Preparatory Academy's B.I.I.F. team) registered the victory on the mound while Keegan Lerma recorded the save, snuffing out a late-inning rally by Mountain Thunder's Nate Ching, Andrew Emsley, Ryan Landis, and Chris Kauwe.

The Drysdale's quiet achiever Gabe Aispuro batted 3 for 3 and scored twice to lead his team offensively and help secure the pitching victory for Morgan Kruger-Burgess. The highlight of the game was when "Hammerin" Cameron Smay stole second base, then came around to score the go-ahead run for the Drysdales, who, from that point forward, never looked back.

Former professional pitcher Eduardo Andrews was outstanding for Durty Jakes, going the distance and securing the victory. His vast array of pitches, especially his edge-of-the-strike-zone curve and almost-unhittable slider proved to be the difference in the game.

For Active Steel, it was the first loss suffered by fast-baller Paxton Chatfield (the star hurler on the Kealakehe High School team), who also pitched very well. What a game to watch!

Pirates take the treasure chest from the Drysdales

Mariners face the Crimson Tide at high noon in a battle of the seas

MVP Sports turns the torch around to cut the Steelers out of first place

On the other side of the ledger, Sky Valenzuela suffered his first defeat in the 2004 season. The fifth inning turned out to be the Nemisis for Active Steel when MVP Sports plated four South Kohalans, then went on to win by the final result of 8-2 in a game that was closer than the score indicated.

Steelers weld the door shut on Bubba Gumps

Pirates hoist their sails over the Mariners, 5-3

Canardlys can thank the heavens for the weather

Blame it on the umpire

Bubba Gumps hands out double lumps

The second game was also quite close, this time featuring a tight defensive battle between pitchers C.J. Hanna of Mountain Thunder Coffee and Mike Luster of Bubba Gumps. In the end, however, thanks to aggressive batting and baserunning by Will "The Thrill" Carr, it was the Crimson Tide who prevailed, 2-0. In essence, the Bubba Gumps simply played with a bit more "luster" over the Mountain Thunder Canardlys, who, in the end, seemed to run out of caffeine in their coffee.

Mariners hang the dales out to dry

MVP Sports forfeits to Steelers

MVP Sports, 0

Bubba Gumps Crimson Tide, 4

Play-It-Again Drysdales, 7

Sounds like somewhere in Pennsylvania, but it's Hawaii

Once again, both defenses settled down, with Steelers' hurler Sky Valenzuela striking out three consecutive batters and Pirates' junkball pitcher Oscar "Double-Zero" Delgado baffling everyone in Active Steel's lineup.

The sixth inning is one that the Steelers would like to forget. Sparked by Kurtis Hawkins, Durty Jakes took a commanding 8-run lead by inning's end. Undaunted, the Steelers began chanting their rally call (a sound that is somewhat like the roar of a "wookie" from the movie "Star Wars"), and the Active Steel bats, once again, came to life. Four, back-to-back Steelers hits yielded three runs in their last-inning gasp. But it was not enough to catch the Pirates who prevailed in the end by the final score of 11-6.

KonaBaseball.com takes a week off

Drysdales surprise Steelers, 16-10

Active Steel Steelers hammer Michaelangelos Mariners

See-saw game between Mariners and Canardlys turns out to be a thriller

Final game of season important in settling playoff picture

Canardlys snuff out Steelers' torch

Last year's champs are out

In the last two frames, the never-say-die Canardlys mounted rallies, but in the end, they were still one run short in their quest to knock Durty Jakes out of the winners' bracket in the playoffs. Pirates' fastballer Eduardo Andrews came on in relief to preserve the 5-4 victory for Ibarra, while J. Lidgett took the defeat on the mound for the Canardlys.

For a team that has finished in last place in each of the past two seasons, the Canardlys have been competitive in almost every game, losing by only one run in almost 90% of their losses, and suffering a blowout loss only once this year.

MVP is o-u-t

The Steelers' style of play in this game exemplified the multi-generational structure of the KonaBaseball.com league. In addition to valuable contributions being made by their youth players (many of whom comprise the core of the Kealakehe High School team), this time, the Steelers also found heroes among their veterans. Seasoned player Ray Uribes (2 for 3 on the afternoon) sparked the third-inning rally, then came around to score the go-ahead run, securing the pitching victory for Sky Valenzuela. In the sixth inning, Sky's father Al Valenzuela broke the game open with a solid double to the left-field gap, sending youth player Kai Miller across home plate for his third score of the day. The senior Valenzuela also came around to score in an inning that was capped off by Bryant Komo's base-clearing triple, providing frosting on the cake for Active Steel.

For the Play-It-Again Drysdales, highlights were provided by third baseman Gabe Aispuro, who showed no signs of his recent back injury, smashing three hits, including a triple. Unfortunately, the rest of the Drysdales could not muster enough offense to keep pitcher Chris "Hardly-A-Mistake" Drake from suffering the loss. Accordingly, the Drysdales have now been eliminated from the KonaBaseball.com playoffs and can only look to the 2005 baseball season to play it again.

Pirates advance to championship game

In the top of the first inning, the Crimson Tide swabbed the Pirates' decks with four runs, followed by two more in the second frame to grab a handy, 6-zip lead (a pair of plate crossings by Atlee Riddle). The Bubba Gumps' batters were jumping all over normally-effective junkball pitcher Oscar Delgado of the Pirates. This prompted the Durty Jakes to turn to their bullpen, where they called upon Eduardo Andrews (former professional pitcher in the Puerto Rican league) to cool down the red-hot Tide.

Across the diamond, Bubba Gumps' undefeated ace hurler Mike Luster continued to pitch out of jams in just about every inning, averting major damage, but letting the small-ball Pirates nibble away at their opponents' lead. Finally, in the Pirates' last at-bat, after Adrian Villanueva drew a lead-off walk, Jorge Perez smacked a triple to tie the contest, then came around to score the winning run on a 2-out base hit delivered by Leo Perez (no relation to teammate Jorge Perez).

As can be imagined, the Pirates' bench went wild with the 7-6 victory, which hoisted them into the league championship game on September 26th. Conversely, the dejected and bewildered Bubba Gumps' players left Simmons Field shaking their heads in disbelief. All is not lost however for the Crimson Tide, as it can still reign supreme in 2004, but first must prevail in the qualifying-final game to be played this Sunday, August 19th.

As for the Canardlys, they knew that, on any given day, they have the ability to play up to the standard of their more-favored opponents, if and only if the Canardlys avoid a crash-and-burn inning. But, in typical Canardlys' fashion, one inning turned out to spell their downfall. This time, Sunday afternoon's fourth inning proved to be their Nemesis. Up to that point, Canardlys' starting pitcher C.J. Hanna had kept his team close, but a barrage of base hits by the Steelers in frame number four resulted in five runs, to open up a 7-0 lead. Relief pitcher J.R. Mori was able to stop the bleeding, and the Canardlys rallied late in the contest, but the recovery was not enough to overcome the deficit.

For the Steelers, the offensive punch was provided mainly by the bottom of their batting order, everyone getting in on the action. Defensively, credit goes to Sky Valenzuela who pitched a shutout through four innings, then ran into a little bit of trouble in the fifth. Fortunately for the Steelers, Paxton Chatfield was available to come on in relief, and the early-game margin was enough to stave off the "yes we can" Canardlys' threat.

The 8-4 loss eliminates the popular Canardlys' team from the 2004 KonaBaseball.com league playoffs, but has earned the Mountain Thunder Coffee Canardlys a fourth place finish, their highest in several seasons.

Steelers get sweet revenge

The Steelers wasted no time getting started. They jumped out to a 7-1 lead by the end of the second inning at the expense of the Crimson Tide's pitcher Mike Luster. All the while, Steelers' hurler Sky Valenzuela continued his winning ways, mowing down the hitters from top to bottom of the Bubba Gumps' batting order. As expected, the Bubba Gumps Crimson Tide was not about to give up without a fight, sparking a rally of its own in the fourth inning to close the gap to 7-4.

However, when a team as strong as the Steelers takes an early-game lead, it is very hard to catch up. By the end of the fifth inning, the men from Active Steel stamped an exclamation point on the scoreboard, running out winners by the final score of 15-5 and washing the Bubba Gumps' team out with the tide. Leading scorers for the Steelers included Alson Kajikawa and Bryant Komo.

As for the Bubba Gumps' box of chocolates, there simply is no almond joy. For on this day, it was Active Steel satisfying its own sweet tooth. And in the end, it was like taking candy from a baby. Oh, Henry!

Now that the dust has settled, it will be the Steelers verses the Pirates. It may sound like a game to be held in Pittsburgh, but you can watch the live action right here in Kailua-Kona. All KonaBaseball.com games are played at Simmons Field, behind Kekuaokalani Gymnasium, in the Old Airport sports complex. Admission is free, so come on down to the field and enjoy one of Kona's favorite entertainment values for residents and visitors alike.

Steelers are 2004 KonaBaseball.com League Champs

Steelers' 9th inning rally sparks come-from-behind victory

Luis Ibarra doubled to lead off the game for the Pirates and came around to score the first run, setting the stage for what appeared to be a slugfest in the making. However, Active Steel pitcher Sky Valenzuela promptly settled down, and the Kealakehe High School star kept his Steelers in the game. For the Durty Jakes Pirates (first-place finishers in the regular season), former professional hurler Eduardo Andrews was also up to the task (striking out 11 batters throughout the game), and an outstanding pitchers' dual ensued.

In the top of the third inning, Active Steel's Donald Goings drew a walk and scored the tying run on a triple smacked by Bryant Komo. The Steelers went on to take the lead in the fifth inning when Alson Kajikawa came home on Neil McKay's base hit.

The Pirates immediately answered in the bottom half of the fifth, thanks to Luis Ibarra's second double of the game and carbon-copy plate crossing. The skull-and-crossbones proceeded to put their noses in front of the Steelers again in the seventh inning when Durty Jakes' pitcher Edwardo Andrews helped his own cause with a single, a stolen base, and a run scored upon Adrian Villanueva's solid double.

By this time, the noon-day sun had begun to take its toll on both pitchers. This prompted the Steelers to turn to their bullpen where they called upon Paxton Chatfield to take the mound. Across the diamond, the Pirates opted to remain with their starter, a decision that would eventually spell their demise. Andrews had been highly effective up to that point, and after retiring the Steelers in the eighth inning, all that the Pirates needed to do, in order to secure a 3-2 victory, was for Andrews to retire the bottom of Active Steel's batting order in the ninth and final frame.

Well, according to baseball legend Yogi Berra, "It ain't over until it's over", and that is exactly what the Steelers were thinking when they donned their helmets for their final at-bat. Surprisingly, the first three batters all reached base safely, the bases were loaded with nobody out, and the Pirates were definitely in trouble. The suddenly fired-up Steelers were not to be denied as they scored five runs to take a handy lead. Fastball pitcher Jorge Perez relieved Andrews and cooled down Active Steel's torch, but the damage had already been done.

Determined not to let the lead change hands for a fifth time, Chatfield and his Steelers shut down the Durty Jakes Pirates 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning to notch the 7-3 victory, and the celebration began for the Active Steel Steelers, 2004 KonaBaseball.com League Champions.

Long-ball derby is a smash

In the opening contest, Canardlys' right-hander Nate Ching claimed the award for most accurate pitching through a tire mounted on a concrete block, a throwback to the childhood of Cleveland Indian great Bob Feller, repudiated as the one who first used that method to develop his pitching arm. The second contest of the morning, designed to test a catcher's ability to throw out a base runner who is attempting to steal second base, was captured by fellow Canardly player Ryan Landis. In the third contest, the ever-popular long-ball derby, Benny Alcoran of the MVP Sports team took the prize with nine long-ball hits in the first round and eleven more in the finals. However, the real thrill of the day was the eighteen-count long-ball performance in the first round by fellow teammate Ray Estrella, including three out-of-the park homers over the center field fence. Those feats are particularly impressive at Simmons Field where the elevation is only a few feet above sea level.

At noon, all fans and players in attendance enjoyed cake while the KonaBaseball.com trophies were bestowed upon the league champions: the Active Steel Steelers (accepted by Ray Uribes) and the first-place finishers in the regular season: the Durty Jakes Pirates (accepted by Edwardo Andrews).

Eduardo Andrews also accepted the individual trophy for his achievement as 2004's most valuable player in the KonaBaseball.com league, and the top pitcher award for the season was won by Leo Perez, fellow teammate from the Pirates.

Individual teams' most valuable players were as follows: Sky Valenzuela (Steelers), Gabe Harris (Mariners), Kalen Hiraishi (MVP Sports), Chris Drake (Drysdales), Eric Simbeck (Crimson Tide), and Ryan Landis (Canardlys). Special awards were announced for the most improved player in the league (John Marshall of the Steelers) and for the best umpire (Roman Kowalski). In addition to medallions, the three victors of the morning baseball skills contests received bags of pure Kona coffee (courtesy of Mountain Thunder Coffee Plantation International, Inc.) and generous gift certificates (courtesy of Durty Jakes Restaurant).

Now, the KonaBaseball.com league turns its attention to the Ironman Triathlon where scorekeeper Katherine Donovan will be competing on October 16th. Following that event, several local players and an umpire are off to the Men's Senior World Series in Phoenix, beginning October 24th. KonaBaseball.com action will resume with free-agent tryouts in early 2005. Interested individuals are encouraged to register right here on the KonaBaseball.com web site.

Final 2004 Regular Season Standings

Amazingly, the final regular season standings resulted in mathematical perfection, each rung in the ladder exactly one game apart from the one above and below.

                                           W   L  G/B
1 - Durty Jakes Pirates..................  9   3   -  (2nd in playoffs)

2 - Active Steel Steelers ...............  8   4   1  (1st in playoffs)
3 - Michaelangelos Mariners .............  7   5   2  (7th in playoffs)
4 - MVP Sports ..........................  6   6   3  (6th in playoffs)
5 - Play-It-Again Drysdales .............  5   7   4  (5th in playoffs)
6 - Bubba Gumps Crimson Tide ............  4   8   5  (3rd in playoffs)
7 - Mountain Thunder Coffee Canardlys ...  3   9   6  (4th in playoffs)

2004 Pitching Records

Leo Perez, Durty Jakes Pirates _______________________ 4-0
Tim O’Connell, MVP Sports ____________________________ 1-0 (2 saves)
Butch Chatfield, Active Steel Steelers _______________ 1-0
Jorge Perez, Durty Jakes Pirates _____________________ 1-0
Aaron Shapiro, Michaelangelos Mariners _______________ 1-0
Oscar Delgado, Durty Jakes Pirates ___________________ 1-0

Kalen Hiraishi, MVP Sports ___________________________ 2-0

Adam Tabieros, Michaelangelos Mariners _______________ 1-0
Ikaika Baptista, MVP Sports __________________________ 4-1
Sky Valenzuela, Active Steel Steelers ________________ 5-2

Paxton Chatfield, Active Steel Steelers ______________ 5-3
Joel Zwak, Michaelangelos Mariners ___________________ 4-3 (1 save)
John Corbin, Michaelangelos Mariners _________________ 0-0 (1 save)
Keegan Lerma, MVP Sports _____________________________ 0-0 (1 save)
Chris Drake, Play-It-Again Drysdales _________________ 4-4
Mike Luster, Bubba Gumps Crimson Tide ________________ 2-2

J. Lidgett, Mountain Thunder Coffee Canardlys ________ 1-1

Chris Arena, Bubba Gumps Crimson Tide ________________ 1-1

Eduardo Andrews, Durty Jakes Pirates _________________ 2-3 (1 save)
Gerardo Ibarra, Durty Jakes Pirates __________________ 1-2
Morgan Kruger-Burgess, Play-It-Again Drysdales _______ 1-2 (1 save)
C.J. Hanna, Mountain Thunder Coffee Canardlys ________ 1-3
J.R. Mori, Mountain Thunder Coffee Canardlys _________ 1-4 (2 saves)
Matt Collier, Michaelangelos Mariners ________________ 0-1 (1 save)
Cameron Smay, Play-It-Again Drysdales ________________ 0-1 (1 save)
Ikaika Reyes, Michaelangelos Mariners ________________ 0-1
Will Carr, Bubba Gumps Crimson Tide __________________ 0-1
Garrett Gresham, Bubba Gumps Crimson Tide ____________ 0-1
Tyril Sherman, Play-It-Again Drysdales _______________ 0-1
Sam Yamasuawa, Play-It-Again Drysdales _______________ 0-1

John Vaughn, Bubba Gumps Crimson Tide ________________ 0-1
Atlee Riddle, Bubba Gumps Crimson Tide _______________ 0-2

Wayne Craft, Bubba Gumps Crimson Tide ________________ 0-2

Shadow Diessner, Mountain Thunder Coffee Canardlys ___ 0-3