The Douglas Tigers are the host team at this week's 15 and under United States Amateur Baseball Association (USABA) World Series. But in the opening game, they might have been a little too hospitable.
"We just made too many errors to win this ball game," said Douglas coach Bill Whalin. "We had plenty of chances to get out of innings but just couldn't."
Justin Kekaualua went 3-for-3 and Sky Venezuela 2-for-3 as Kailua took advantage of six Douglas errors in a 10-2 win on Sunday night at James Lee Memorial Park
"They put the ball in play and play small ball," Whalin said. "Hawai'i is a great team but we've played some other good teams. We just can't allow them to get anything easy off us and they did tonight."
The game was called after five innings because of the eight-run mercy rule. Five of Kailua's runs were the result of Tiger errors. Kailua scored two runs in the first. Douglas did the same in the bottom half of the inning after Darren Brady's RBI double. Brady scored later in the inning off a passed ball.
Other than a fifth-inning rally, Douglas didn't muster much offense. Kailua outhit Douglas 11-5 and scored three runs in both the second and third innings. In the second, a wild pitch and an error scored two runs and Venezuela's RBI triple added another.
In the bottom of the fifth, Douglas (0-1) loaded the bases after Phil Mannelly singled, Niko Salidas walked, and Nate Whalin was hit by a pitch. That's as close as it would get to scoring another run. Mannelly, Brady, Salidas, Whalen, and Brooks Greenlee all recorded hits for Douglas, which continues pool play today with two more games. It plays Vacaville, Calif., today at 4 at James Lee and then Twin City, Calif., at 7 p.m.
Carson's 15 and under team opens tournament pool play today with a 10 a.m. game at James Lee against Tri-County, Calif. It also plays Kailua (1-0) today at 4 p.m. at Lampe Park in Gardnerville. Pool play ends on Tuesday as the teams will jockey for seeding for the double elimination tournament that begins later this week. And that's the point coach Whalin was stressing to his team following Sunday's loss.
"These games don't matter much. Everybody is just kind of feeling everybody else out right now. I know our guys will bounce back."