Hawai'i Wave seeks third consecutive Best of West title

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Hawai'i Wave, formerly known as West O'ahu, will be playing for its third straight Best of the West Baseball Classic championship today at 4 p.m. at Aloha Stadium.

The Wave, mostly composed of recent high school graduates and college freshmen from Hawai'i, will play Hardtke World of Baseball for the title.

Hardtke is a team of mostly recent high school graduates from the San Jose area.

The Wave defeated the Hurricanes (Seattle-Tacoma), 13-3, last night in a semifinal game shortened to five innings because of the 10-run rule.

The Wave led 4-0 after the first inning, 8-0 after the second and 11-2 after the third. Recent Castle High School graduate Kevin Kon went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, including a two-run double in the first and a two-run single in the third.

Kon also had a double in the fifth.

Cy Donald, a 2001 Mililani graduate now playing for the University of San Francisco, went 3-for-3 and scored four runs for the Wave. Royce Fukuroku, Donald's teammate at USF and a 2001 graduate of Maui High School, had an RBI double an scored three runs.

Mid-Pacific Institute senior-to-be Justin Pate struck out seven and walked none in a complete-game effort.

Hardtke advanced to the final with a 9-4 victory over Rincon Valley (Calif.).

Homecoming

The 10-team tournament features eight Mainland teams, but there is some local flavor even among the visitors.

Hurricanes left fielder Kaeo Rubin was born in Europe and went to high school in Spanaway, Wash. (near Tacoma), but his parents, Steve and Gloria, were born and raised here.

Rubin went 0-for-1 last night and was hit by a pitch twice. He was cheered on by an ohana of about 10-12 aunties, uncles and cousins.

"This was his first time playing here," Steve Rubin said. "A lot of our family never saw him play."

According to Hurricanes coach Rich Heaton, they've missed out on many good performances. Rubin was a 4A (highest level) all-league player in high school and is coming off a standout freshman season for Edmonds (Wash.) Community College.

"They won their conference, and he was a huge part of it," Heaton said. "He's also one of the nicest kids we've had. As good as he is, he has no ego."