ILH loses state tourney berths in baseball, softball

By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Hawai'i High School Athletic Association yesterday released its league representation calculations for this year's state tournaments, and they were received quietly by 13 officials attending the HHSAA's executive board meeting at the Kamehameha Schools.

But come February and May, there could be a noisier reaction from fans of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, which will receive only one state berth each in the Division I softball and baseball tournaments.

The ILH had been awarded up to two berths each in the past, but the enforcement of the HHSAA's tournament formula for determining softball bids and the surprise addition of Hana to the Maui Interscholastic League's baseball schedule have put the squeeze on O'ahu's private school representation.

Tournament berths are awarded based on a formula corresponding to the number of teams in each league.

In softball, the 22-team O'ahu Interscholastic Association will be awarded six Division I berths, up from five last year. In baseball, the nine-team MIL will receive two automatic berths, whereas last season its runner-up had to face the ILH runner-up in a playoff for the second berth.

The eight-team ILH has been extremely successful in both tournaments, winning 25 of the 46 state baseball championships and four of the past seven state softball titles. Three of the past eight state baseball championship games matched ILH teams, and last season ILH runner-up Punahou won the state title over league champion Mid-Pacific.

"I think last year just showed how tough the ILH is, when both of us made it (to the state final)," said Punahou senior Kasey Ko, a first baseman on the baseball team. "I don't think it's fair that now we only get one berth; I think the ILH should get at least two. But I don't see it all as a bad thing — maybe this will push us more to win (the league)."

MPI baseball coach Dunn Muramaru called the reduction in ILH berths an "inequity," but said the league has no recourse at the moment.

"When you use a formula, it's not about having the best teams (in the tournament), it's about representation," said Muramaru, whose Owls have qualified for six of the past seven state tournaments, twice as the ILH runner-up. "But that's how it goes. We can't do anything about it now."

The only way the ILH baseball runner-up will have a shot at a state tourney bid this season is if an MIL team forfeits a league game because of a lack of players. MIL executive secretary Stephen Kim said forfeits in his league come with a fine and withdrawal from competition for the season.

Hana, with an enrollment of about 100, is making its first venture into varsity baseball in at least a decade.

If Hana — or any other MIL team — drops out and reduces the league to eight members, the MIL and ILH runners-up will play off for a state tournament bid, as Lahainaluna and Punahou did last season.

In softball, nothing has changed from last year in regard to Division I membership. However, the 2004 state tournament representation was based on the status quo from 2003, when there was no Division II classification.

With the state's 51 softball schools now broken up into Division I and Division II, the HHSAA this school year is applying the formula-based representation. The ILH has only three teams classified as Division I — Iolani, Kamehameha and Punahou — but all three are considered perennial powerhouses statewide.

Like in baseball, now only one can qualify for a state tournament berth.

"We definitely have an uphill battle trying to make it, considering the strength of the ILH," said Iolani softball coach Chris Shimabukuro, whose Raiders won state titles in 1999 and 2000, but missed out on tourney berths the past two seasons by finishing third in the league. "I honestly think taking the top two (from the ILH) was very fair, but I understand that it's a numbers game. It's tough on us and, of course, I'm not happy with it, but we'll just try to control the things we have in our power."

ILH executive director Don Botelho said his league "has nothing to complain about" because its member schools determine if they will field varsity teams and under what classification.

"This formula system was voted on many years ago (in 1990), and until the public feels that the formula is not working, that's how it's going to be," Botelho said. "We just have to comply with the system the way it is."

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.

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