47th Annual ILWU Men’s Fast-Pitch Softball champs “Sons of Kauai.”

Hawaii Division’s “Mauna Lani” team took home second place.

HONOLULU—The 47th Annual ILWU Fast-Pitch Softball Tournament was held May 11, 2002 on Oahu at Salt Lake District Park. The usual single elimination format was changed to a round robin format because Maui Division was not able to field a team this year. The change in format did not rattle standing state champion Kauai from winning their fifth straight fast-pitch title.

Game 1: Kauai vs Hawaii

The Sons of Kauai defeated Hawaii’s Mauna Lani in the first game behind the throwing arm and hitting of veteran Kauai pitcher Fred Medeiros. Medeiros pitched a threehitter and batted two for three— including a triple and two runs batted in.

Early on in the game, Hawaii jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a hit batter, two singles and a bases loaded walk. Hawaii pitcher Patrick Prieto baffled Kauai and kept them scorless for five innings.

In the top of the sixth Kauai came alive and took advantage of two costly errors, scoring three runs and taking the lead. Medeiros’ two-run triple in the top of the final inning pushed Kauai’s lead to 5-2, and the fired-up pitcher shut out the Hawaii team for the rest of the game.

Also contributing to the win were David Perreira and Ronald “Blackie” Viquelia, who had two hits each for Kauai, with Perreira doubling twice.

“Honolulu Advertiser” represented Oahu Division in the fast-pitch tournament.

Game 2: Hawaii vs Oahu 

A combination of seven walks and two singles let the young Honolulu Advertiser team from Oahu take the lead over Mauna Lani 5-1 after the first inning of play

But the tide turned, and from the third inning onward the game was dominated by the Big Island team. Hawaii’s rally started with Joby Amaral’s two-run double, and they quickly scored five runs on three hits and two walks. Mauna Lani scored runs in every inning but the second. Amaral, who hit three for four with a double, two home runs, three runs and four RBIs, displayed awesome hitting power and lead his team to a 13-5 win. Mauna Lani’s James Kawasaki batted 1.000, going four for four with two runs and two RBIs.

Game 3: Oahu vs Kauai

The veteran Kauai team could sense another championship in the making and gave a clinic on pitching and hitting to the more inexperienced Honolulu Advertiser team. The Sons of Kauai banged out 15 hits with seven walks to completely demolish the Oahu team 17-2. The game ended after five innings when Kauai lead by more than 10 runs and the 10-run rule was invoked. Kauai was led by Leonard Vegas, who batted three for two with two runs and two RBIs, Greg Santos, who went three for four, with two RBIs, and Sam Dias, who had three RBIs. Patrick Rita, David Planas and Darrell Borrero had two hits each.

Team Awards 

The team awards for the 47th Annual ILWU Men’s Fast Pitch Tournament were: First Place: Sons of Kauai; Second Place: Mauna Lani; and 3rd Place: Honolulu Advertiser

Individual Awards

Individual awards were given out as follows: Most Valuable Player: Fred Medeiros (Kauai); Best Batting Average: James Kawasaki (Hawaii); Most Hits: James Kawasaki (Hawaii); Most Home Runs: Joby Amaral (Hawaii); Most Runs Batted In: Joby Amaral (Hawaii); Most Runs: Ronald Viquelia (Kauai).

All-tournament team members were: James Kawasaki (Hawaii), Fred Medeiros (Kauai), Ronald Viquelia (Kauai), Joby Amaral (Hawaii), Felix Cablay (Oahu), Patrick Rita (Kauai), David Perreira (Kauai), Darrell Borerro (Kauai), Ira Poindexter (Hawaii), Greg Santos (Kauai), David Planas (Kauai), Patrick Prieto (Hawaii).