Strike brings OIA baseball races to a halt
| • | UH coaches say going to work is difficult |
| • | High school baseball players practice on their own |
Advertiser Staff
Nearing the halfway point of the season — or maybe the end of it if the public school teachers strike isn't settled — 11 baseball teams are within a point or two of first place in their divisions in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association.
OIA baseball standings are not calculated by winning percentages like the major leagues. Because of the possibility of an occasional tie or rained-out game that cannot be made up, the OIA uses "championship points." Each victory earns two points, each tie one point.
Six teams are within a point in the Eastern Division and five are within a point in the Western Division. There are 21 teams in the OIA.
Although 'Aiea is the only unbeaten team in the West, Na Ali'i do not lead the division. Their record is 3-0 for six points while Mililani is 4-1 for eight points.
If the season is not resumed and today's standings were to become final, Mililani would win the West.
Kaiser is the only unbeaten team in the East but the Cougars share first place with once-beaten Castle, each with seven points. Kaiser and Castle tied 7-7 on March 28 in a game stopped because of darkness.
They may never get to play it off.
All games have been postponed for the duration of the strike.
The season will have to be abbreviated if the strike endures, and could be canceled altogether if it lasts as long as six weeks, OIA baseball coordinator Keith Morioka said.
"I hope we can finish," Morioka said. "If the strike doesn't go longer than two weeks, we'll be OK."
'Aiea senior first baseman Casey Onaga, who has helped organize Na Ali'i for practices during the strike, said, "I really hope we can finish the schedule. It would be nice to see how we fare against the rest of the competition."
