Consider that in the 46 years of the tournament there have been 10 no-hitters, a 19-strikeout performance, and Glen Oura's ironman effort in which he went 6-0 and pitched 50¡ of the 54 innings for Baldwin over two tournaments.

But when it comes to batting feats, only one stands out. On May 18, 1962, a 5-foot-11, 165-pound junior first baseman named John Matias of the Farrington Governors ripped four home runs in a 13-1 romp of Waimea in the state semifinals.

"You just can't believe doing something like that," said Matias, who turns 60 on Aug. 15.

The four-homer game is still a tournament record. It happened at Honolulu Stadium, which was distinguishable by its short right-field fence. (The right-field line was listed at 305 feet; long-time Advertiser writer Ferd Borsch, who covered every Hawaii Islanders home game, said it was "unofficially about" 295 feet.) Still, no other player had hit four in a game at the Moi'ili'ili venue, which is now a state park.

The left-handed hitting Matias, who hit three home runs during the regular season, never dreamed of such a performance. For starters, he batted leadoff because of his speed. ("I had pretty good wheels," Matias said with a laugh. "But the way we hit, we didn't have to steal too many bases.")

"I knew I had some power, but I wasn't the type looking for home runs," Matias said. "I tried to spray the ball around the field. I wasn't big like some of the other guys on our team."

Those "other guys" included catcher Deroy Lavatai, a 220-pound star football lineman, and 6-foot center fielder Ron Ramie, who later played professionally and is the older brother of Kamehameha baseball coach Vern.

"I was just up there trying to hit the ball hard somewhere," Matias said. "Everything (pitches) looked big up there. I just took a regular swing and the ball carried on. It was an awesome feeling."

His statistics that day would make today's fantasy baseball players do Ozzie Smith back flips. "5-4-9" read the box score in the next day's dailies. (Back then, the runs column wasn't listed.)

Just as astonishing as Matias' four homers were his nine RBIs. He hit solo shots in the first and fifth innings, had a grand slam in the sixth and capped the outing with a game-ending three-run blast in the bottom of the seventh. The game was called because of the 10-run differential rule; a regulation prep game then was nine innings. In his second at-bat that came in the third inning, he grounded out.

After his second home run, Matias admitted he was looking to hit one his next time up because the bases were loaded. Of course, he got the slam.

"I was lucky," he said.

If the home runs weren't enough, Matias threw 1á scoreless innings of relief, allowing no hits, walking two and striking out one.

Alas, while the home runs propelled Farrington to the tournament championship against Leilehua, the tournament-favorite Governors, then of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, fell to the Mules, 8-5. But Matias and the Governors did return the next year to win the title, beating Baldwin, 5-0. Matias had three hits, including a three-run triple.

JOHN MATIAS Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

In 1967, Matias was traded from the Orioles, along with Hall of Fame shortstop Luis Aparicio and Russ Snyder, to the Chicago White Sox for Don Buford, Bruce Howard and Roger Nelson.

He made his major-league debut on opening day for the White Sox in 1970. Matias said Tommy John was Chicago's starting pitcher on a staff that included Wilbur Wood.

Matias said Bobby Knoop started at second and Walt "No Neck" Williams in the outfield. Both were former members of the now defunct Hawaii Islanders minor-league team.

After his only big league season with the White Sox that year (58 games, .188 batting average, two home runs), Matias was traded to Kansas City with Gail Hopkins for Pat Kelly and Don O'Riley.

He later went on to play in the Mexican League, as well as winter leagues in Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Matias would return to Honolulu Stadium later as a member of the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League. He played during the 1972, 1973 and 1980 seasons. His best was 1972, when he batted .268 with 20 home runs and 81 RBIs.

"It was great playing in front of the hometown crowd," Matias said.

Yet, despite making it to the pro level, people who recognize Matias remind him of the four-homer game for Farrington. Newspaper accounts showed a crowd of about 3,000 that day.

"Every time I run into someone, they swear they were at that game," Matias said. "A lot of people relate me to the four home runs. It feels great. It's a nice memory of something good."