Competitive fires still burn on diamond

Vikings pitcher Take Uesato snares the ball during a Makua Ali'i Slowpitch League game at Ala Wai Field. RIchard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer

Only in the Makua Ali'i Slowpitch League could 60-year-old Frank Enanoria be considered a rookie.

Even after 50 years of playing baseball and coaching his two sons in Little League, he is considered a newcomer to the softball league, open to enthusiasts 55 and older.

The Outlaws give a team cheer after a recent game at Ala Wai Field. RIchard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

Baseball has been his life. Now it's softball. And he doesn't mind.

"To me, after the game we sit down and chit-chat, get to know everybody, that's what this is about," said the retired shipyard welding supervisor. "That's the good part about playing ball."

Wooden bats stood against the chainlink fence at the Ala Wai field where Enanoria's team, the Golden Eagles, were warming up on Wednesday morning. A bag full of the league's standard 14-inch softballs sat beneath the hanging bat bags adorned with Vegas luggage tags and lucky frog keychains.

Clad in olive green jerseys with gold trim, the players tossed softballs to each other, loosening up their arms and stretching out their legs. One player sat in the outfield, stealing a smoke before the second game of the morning.

They wear baseball cleats with their knee braces, caps with their bifocals. And though their legs and arms don't work as well as they used to, the competitive fire still burns within.

"The older you get the less capable you are of running and throwing," said Cal Chai, 71, longtime athletic director and football coach at Kamehameha Schools, who has been playing in Makua for 15 years. "But you try to do the best you can. You feel frustrated when you can't do the things you used to do. But you just have to accept it."

They can't steal bases or slide into homeplate. But they can still hit home runs and make backhanded grabs worthy of SportsCenter.

"It's very competitive," said Les Lunasco, a 62-year-old retired firefighter who plays for Hui 'Ohana. "All these guys are ballers. Of course, we're not in condition like we used to be."

For the more than 200 players who make up the league's 13 teams, softball gets them outdoors, into the game they love, surrounded by people who feel that same fervor. Some have only played in high school. Others have college experience. And a handful, such as Dick Kashiwaeda, have played professional baseball in Japan.

But playing softball at whatever level, especially for those over 55, also provides healthy benefits.

"It's good for seniors not doing anything," said Benny Villaverde, a 75-year-old member of the Outlaws and former league president. "There's not much we can do. Golfing, bowling, walking around Ala Moana or playing ball — that's it."

This is the only exercise 77-year-old Al Matsumoto gets. The retired shipyard worker has been playing slowpitch softball for 22 years — and he doesn't plan on slowing down anytime soon.

"It's good for morale, good for exercise, good to meet people," said Matsumoto, who coaches and pitches for the Aikane Foundation team. "It's good for a lot of things. It's very good for seniors."

The league officially meets twice a week, with an additional game on Fridays for players over 60. The season runs nearly year-long, with breaks only for Christmas, New Year's and rainy days.

Camaraderie is inevitable, as many of these players stay with teams throughout their involvement with the league.

"That great camaraderie is the primary purpose of this league to me," said Les Almeida, 65, who has been an outfielder for Hui 'Ohana for seven of the nine years he has been playing in Makua Ali'i. "I've met players in this league that I played ball with when I was in high school. That's been a great thing for me, to meet up with them again."

That camaraderie pulls the team through hard times, like last year when one of the league's charter members, Ralph Vicens, passed away.

"We miss those guys," Almeida said. "You find a lot of players show up at the services. There's a lot of support."

Every year in August, the Makua Ali'i participates in a senior softball state tournament. More than 30 teams, including ones from the neighbor islands, compete for the state title.

Capping off the season is a trip to Vegas to participate in another senior tournament, which has become the highlight of the year for many players.

Because it's not about winning the tournament title.

"The friendship," Chai said, "that's primary."