'Aiea also started the season 6-0, but now Na Ali'i (7-3) are the West's No. 5 seed and must play East No. 4 Roosevelt (7-3) at Stevenson Middle School tomorrow in another first-round meeting and rematch of last season's league championship game.

In the ultra-competitive OIA, no team was safe in the regular season and the same should hold true for the 12-team playoffs, which will conclude with Saturday night's title game at Central O'ahu Regional Park.

"Like I told our boys, anybody can beat anybody and we hit a tough stretch of games," said 'Aiea coach Ryan Kato, who guided Na Ali'i to their first OIA crown since 1994 last year. "It just goes to show how our league is so balanced. That's how we ended up in fifth place.

"But that should also make it a very exciting tournament."

The difference between the teams in the field is so small, fifth-place 'Aiea actually defeated the top two teams in the West, No. 1 Mililani and No. 2 Leilehua.

"It's funny how that worked out," Kato said. "Even in the games we lost, we played our butts off but came up short three times. We were hitting line drives that weren't dropping in for three games straight. I've never seen that before. But that's the hand we were dealt with, and we can do one of two things: we can cry about it, or we can deal with it and move on."

Kailua coach Corey Ishigo said his team's peaks and valleys followed a lopsided schedule. The Surfriders won their first four East games by an aggregate score of 59-7, only to drop three of their final four games when the level of opponents changed.

"We didn't play well against the good teams," Ishigo said. "But now it's anybody's game; Nos. 1 through 6 are all about equal. No matter who we play on that (West) side is going to be tough, and I don't think they would feel comfortable playing against us, either."

If there is a surprise team in the field, it could be East No. 2 Moanalua (8-2). While Kalani, Kaiser, Roosevelt and Kailua were busy beating one another to try to gain the division's top spot, the Menehunes quietly sneaked in to finish second and earn the crucial first-round bye.

But that's just the way Moanalua coach Scott Yamada likes it.

"We wanted to be under the radar," Yamada said. "The key for us might be execution on offense and defense. In our loss to Castle, we made six errors."

What makes Moanalua a sleeper this week is the fact it has three solid starting pitchers. Adam Arakawa, Andrew Blomberg and Chance Daskauskas are a combined 8-2.

"It was very important to develop a third pitcher to add more depth," Yamada said.

The two No. 1 seeds, Kalani and Mililani, are both 9-1 and suffered their lone loss by one run. Kalani lost to Kaiser, 7-6, and Mililani lost to 'Aiea, 6-5, in eight innings.

Two of the league's top pitchers, Wai'anae's Clayton Uyechi and Campbell's Tristan Bailey, are expected to throw today. The top five teams at tournament's end will earn state tournament berths.