The busiest week of the year is upon the Hawaii High School Athletic Association.
With six state-championship sports in tournament mode, including two on Maui, prep sports fans may have some hard decisions to make. That is, if they are volleyball and softball fans, since the state tourneys run concurrently this week on Oahu.
Or they can board a flight to the Valley Isle to take in the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Division I Baseball Championships and partake of the festivities at Iron Maehara Stadium, arguably the finest venue for prep baseball in the state.
That D-I baseball bracket was released late Sunday afternoon. Baldwin is the No. 1 seed, to the surprise of some ILH and OIA fans, with Mid-Pacific as the second seed and Campbell as the third. Hilo, the BIIF champion, is the fourth seed.
Mid-Pac was voted No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Baseball Top 10 last week, with OIA champion Campbell at No. 2 in the poll. Baldwin, 11-2 in the MIL, was third. Maybe having home-field advantage this week was a factor in the HHSAA’s seeding. Or perhaps it was Waiakea’s ride to the state title last year that boosted respect for neighbor-island baseball.
Baldwin will begin its quest on Thursday against the Mililani-Waipahu winner. Opening-round games include ‘Iolani against Kailua in a 4 p.m. matchup on Wednesday, along with Waiakea-Leilehua (1 p.m.) and Maui-Pearl City (7 p.m.).
The D-II baseball tourney pairings also are set. OIA champion Waianae is the top seed and will play Kaimuki on Thursday at historic Hans L’Orange Field. The second seed, Maryknoll, will play Konawaena; third seed Molokai will face OIA runner-up Radford; and fourth seed Kapaa takes on Kamehameha-Hawaii.
The DataHouse/HHSAA Division I Softball Championships are scheduled to begin on Tuesday with four games at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. The most intriguing matchups involve regular-season titans Mililani, which was ranked No. 1 in the Star-Advertiser Top 10 going into the OIA playoffs, and ILH runner-up Punahou.
Mililani will play Keaau and Punahou will face Waipahu in the opening round.
Top-seeded Kamehameha has an opening-round bye and will take on the Leilehua-Lahainaluna winner on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Campbell is the second seed, Baldwin is third and Hilo, coached by former Kamehameha ace Leo Sing Chow, is the fourth seed.
Punahou, which rebounded to beat Kamehameha for the ILH title, is the top seed in the New City Nissan/HHSAA Boys Volleyball State Championships, which begin on Wednesday at McKinley and Waipahu high schools. Punahou has a first-round bye and will face the Kalaheo/Kamehameha-Hawaii winner.
The opening round on Wednesday, including the KS-Hawaii/Kalaheo game, has some intrigue. KS-Hawaii, featuring last year’s Star-Advertiser all-state player of the year Evan Enriques, was upset in the BIIF playoffs by Waiakea.
Powerhouse Kamehameha drew McKinley for its opening-round game.
The second seed is OIA champion Moanalua, with Waiakea third and Baldwin fourth.
Punahou, which won its ninth ILH title in a row this year, has taken three of the last four state crowns.
The D-II boys volleyball pairings are scheduled to be released tonight by the HHSAA following a play-in match between Campbell and Ka‘u.
Also this week:
» The boys golf tournament is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday at Kaanapali Golf Course on Maui.
» The track and field championships are slated for Friday and Saturday at Mililani High School.
» The girls water polo state championships are Tuesday through Friday at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
