A total of three state tournament berths will be handed out when the Big Island Interscholastic Federation baseball tournament gets underway on Tuesday.
In Division I, Waiakea has already clinched one of the state berths by virtue of winning the regular season championship outright. If Waiakea defeats Kea`au on Friday afternoon, the other berth will be handed to the winner of the Kealakehe/Hilo contest.
The winner of the Division I championship game, played at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, will earn a seeded spot in the Wally Yonamine Foundation / Hawai`i High School Athletic Association state baseball tournament, kicking off Wednesday, May 8 on the island of Maui.
Meanwhile, in Division II, both state tournament berths will be handed out to the winners of Friday afternoon’s semifinal games. Kamehameha-Hawai`i earned the number one seed in the Division II tournament, but did not win the regular season championship outright, tying with Konawaena at 7-2. The Warriors defeated Konawaena earlier in the season, giving them the tiebreaker to get the top seed, but this year’s new format decided upon by the league’s athletic directors states that no state tournament berth would be given to a regular season champion if a tiebreaker is needed to determine the top team.
The Division II tournament begins Tuesday with quarterfinal action. Hawai`i Preparatory Academy, the third seeded team in the tournament, will host six-seed Pahoa, the only winless team in the league. The winner of that game will meet Konawaena at 11:00 a.m. on Friday at Wong Stadium.
The other quarterfinal will be played at Honoka`a Park with the fourth-seeded Honoka`a Dragons hosting the fifth-seeded Kohala Cowboys. Both teams went 2-9 in games that counted toward the league standings, but the higher seed went to Honoka`a based on their win over the Cowboys on Wednesday. This matchup will be aired on ESPN Radio and ESPNHawaii.com, with the winner facing Kamehameha-Hawai`i at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
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The Division II championship will be played at 3:00 p.m. Saturday at Wong Stadium. Both semifinal winners earn a state berth, with the championship winner getting one of four seeds in the Division II state tournament, played at Oahu’s Hans L`Orange Park next week.
Division I tournament schedule (all games at Wong Stadium)
Friday’s semifinals
#4 Kea`au (4-5) vs. #1 Waiakea (7-2) – 4:00 p.m.
#3 Kealakehe (4-5) vs. #2 Hilo (6-3) – 6:30 p.m., ESPNHawaii.com
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