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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, March 27, 2002

Once again, parity reigns in OIA baseball

 •  Ex-'Bow Brown new Kaimuki coach
 •  OIA East preview
 •  OIA West preview

By Dennis Anderson
Advertiser Staff Writer

Last season, five teams tied for second place in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association's final Western Division baseball standings and three teams finished within a half-game of second place in the Eastern Division.

That's not unusual for the 21-team public-school league, where parity has made its springtime home for years.

And coaches don't anticipate anything different this season, even though defending division, league and state champion Kailua had 60 percent underclassmen on its state tournament roster last season.

In variations on classic coach-speak, the mentors say such things as:

"If everybody plays to their potential, we'll be competitive," said Lane Watanuki of defending Western Division champion Campbell.

"It's a very balanced league; on any given day ..." said Mel Seki of annual contender Pearl City.

"We're getting down to basics, if they execute we will be competitive," said Syd Kawahakui, taking over as head coach of Kahuku after two years as an assistant and quickly showing his mastery of coach-speak.

Conservative, safe ... and accurate.

Pearl City, 'Aiea, Mililani and Wai'anae are considered by most to be the teams to beat in the West, as they are every year, and Kailua, Roosevelt, Moanalua and Castle are the names mentioned most often in the East.

As Seki says: "on any given day."

Those "given days" start today with nine games.

The single-round division seasons conclude May 1 and the top six teams from each division advance to the OIA Tournament, May 8-11.

Five teams from the OIA go to the state tournament at Rainbow Stadium, May 15-18.