Photo by Aaron Veincent
Junior Bailey Ota punts sending the kickball far into the outfield in the second game of the Homecoming Kickball Tournament during lunch. The juniors won this game against the sophomores and will advance to the finals on Friday.
Day Two: Juniors swipe sophomores’ chance
Juniors pulled a win of 6-0 from the sophomores’ grasp in the 5-inning, second game of the homecoming kickball tournament today at lunch.
Being Lā Poni, the day when all students were encouraged to wear the junior class color (purple), the juniors thought they had the game in the bag, but at the end of the first 2-innings, their hopes began to fade.
The first 2-innings went quickly, with both sides kicking many air balls that were easily caught by their opponents, leaving both teams scoreless.
It was a case of three up and three down, four times in a row, but when juniors took to the plate in the third inning they planned to change this.
Kai Paredes kicks the ball outfield bringing home the Juniors first point, ran in by Michael Singh.
The junior class broke out into a wave of cheers when they scored the first point in the third inning, and from then on, they pushed their way to first, securing a 4-0 lead against the sophomores.
The sophomores’ outfield gameplay became sluggish, and so did their infield. The juniors seized the advantage, and come out on top at the end of the last inning after adding two points to their overall score.
In total, Michael Singh, Kalaʻi Tamanaha, Gideon Aiwohi, and Bailey Ota scored one point each, with Kai Paredes scoring two.
Tomorrow, the underclassmen will play each other at lunch in a fight for third place, and on Friday, today’s winners, the juniors, will take on the seniors for first place.
Game Three: Freshmen finish in third
Photo by Aaron Veincent
Freshman Nokea Afong-Kneubuhi-Naleieha guards the border that keeps them separated from the juniors.
The freshmen won in the consolation bracket in order to solidify their third-place spot over the juniors with a 1-0 win.
Being in fourth, the juniors received 375 spirit points, while the freshmen received 500.
Unlike in their previous game, this time the juniors slacked off on the defense, pushing more offense with fresh players who subbed in for the team.
Despite the juniors’ countless attempts at the ball, they could not get past the freshmen without them snatching their flags off or intercepting the ball.
On the other hand, a few freshmen played offensively and eventually got a point for their class.
With most of the focus being drawn to one side of the field, the juniors were left unaware of what was going behind them when the freshmen were able to steal the ball and fly it over to the opposite side.
Freshmen Slade Teshima and CJ Hamasaki play defense after scoring the first point of the game.
After scoring a point mid-way through the game. The freshmen agreed to play more defense to keep the juniors from scoring.
Coupled with careless passes by the juniors, the freshmen were able to hold their defense and keep their one-point lead over the juniors, giving themselves the win.
