PONY Baseball Fundraiser Set for This Weekend

The 2013 Hilo PONY League All-Star Baseball team will be holding a fundraiser this weekend to help cover the costs of their upcoming trip to the West Zone tournament in Whittier, CA.

The tournament is held August 1-5 at Whittier’s York Field. The Hilo squad punched their ticket to the tournament after sweeping through the state tournament, held July 5-9 in Maui. Hilo went 4-0 to advance to the next stage, defeating Maui Blue 4-3 in the championship game.

It’s tough to qualify for a tournament held on the mainland based on skill. It can be as much of a challenge to get enough funding in a limited time frame to get there.

According to coach Eric Kurosawa, the PONY west region does offer assistance by providing 18 round-trip flight tickets to the state champion, covering airfare for 15 players and three coaches. They are still looking to raise between $11,000 and $13,000.

“We still need to fund raise for ground (transportation) and for hotel and meals for the kids,” said Kurosawa. “It’s still a big task for us.”

On Saturday, the team will hold a car wash fronting KTA Puainako from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. The cost to wash a regular size vehicle runs at $5 while SUV’s, trucks, and vans will cost $10.

At the same time, the Hilo All-Stars will be selling Vierra’s Sweet Bread for $7, Cinnamon Bread for $8, and a 15 ounce bag of Maebo Won Ton Chips for $10 each. From 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., there will be a limited supply of Kalua Pig for sale. The one-pound bags run at $10 each while supplies last. The food items will be sold in front of the store’s entrance.

Kurosawa also said that they will hold another car wash on Sunday at Aiona Car Sales in Hilo.

If the Hilo PONY league all-stars are able to win the West Zone tournament, the next stop would be Washington, PA for the PONY League World Series. The team would be flown from Los Angeles to Washington and back for the World Series since both events are separated by only four days.