With Lahainaluna losing in the tournament, they had to
play this winner-take-all game against tournament champion Baldwin to earn the
overall MIL championship and the higher seed at the HHSAA tournament.
Unfortunately, the MIL scheduled the game for 5:00pm. Why
they didn’t schedule it for 4:00pm like they usually do for softball at Patsy
Mink Field is beyond me. What this meant
though, was that I probably couldn’t shoot the whole game, or the ending or the
championship celebration. A 5:00 start meant a likely 7:00 or 7:30 finish.
Unfortunately, I had a 8:30pm flight to catch to Chicago. I couldn’t miss that
flight – it was for work and my boss was on the flight. And I’m the type of guy
that needs to check in 90 minutes before the flight.
Anticipating this, I had made sure I was packed and ready
to go. After work, I headed home to get my stuff and camera gear. My wife was
kind enough to agree to drop me off at the field and she would hang out at her
mom’s house nearby until I called her to pick me up and take me to the airport.
When I got to the park, it was unclear to me who was winning. One team was
definitely up by a lot. When I found out it was Lahainaluna, I was so happy!
When I found out I had just missed Jessica Wallace’s home run, I was pissed of!
At myself – for missing that shot – a home run in a championship game – and the
shots of the team and the Lahainaluna crowd going bonkers. Oh well.
I ran into Ben Juan shooting near the Lahaina dugouts. First time I see him at a softball game. Then again, I only go to Baldwin softball games when Lahainaluna is playing them. Turns out he was shooting stuff for the Maui News (I had told the Maui News I couldn’t shoot it because I was flying to Chicago and there was no way for me to transmit the photos to them since I was going to be at the airport).
I ran into Ben Juan shooting near the Lahaina dugouts. First time I see him at a softball game. Then again, I only go to Baldwin softball games when Lahainaluna is playing them. Turns out he was shooting stuff for the Maui News (I had told the Maui News I couldn’t shoot it because I was flying to Chicago and there was no way for me to transmit the photos to them since I was going to be at the airport).
I finally got situated near the Lunas’ dugout. The place was packed so that was the only place I could get up against the fence. Trainer Jon was there and he indicated it was okay for me to sit inside the gate area.
I ran into Ben Juan shooting near the Lahaina dugouts. First time I see him at a softball game. Then again, I only go to Baldwin softball games when Lahainaluna is playing them. Turns out he was shooting stuff for the Maui News (I had told the Maui News I couldn’t shoot it because I was flying to Chicago and there was no way for me to transmit the photos to them since I was going to be at the airport). Ben's a good guy. At least the game would have coverage in the Maui News tomorrow.
I finally got situated near the Lunas’ dugout. The place
was packed so that was the only place I could get up against the fence. Trainer
Jon was there and he indicated it was okay for me to sit inside the gate area.
The game being a blowout was a good thing because it
looked like the game would finish quickly. I might be able to get my
championship celebration shot and get to the airport in time after all! Of
course, Coach Lei dragged the game out by making substitutions, etc. Hey, I
don’t mind letting all the players play in the championship game, but I got a
flight to catch! Ha ha.
At 6:45, I was getting nervous. I had to go already. It
takes ten minutes to drive to the airport. I’m cutting it close. And the game
wasn’t over yet.
I gave myself a cutoff of 7:00pm. My wife was already
waiting in the truck in the parking lot. She’s the best. Game over or game on,
I was leaving. Trainer Jon was probably getting a kick out of watching me
looking nervously at my clock, rocking back and forth, anxious for the game to
be over.
Suddenly, just before 7pm, the final out was recorded, The game was over. Lahainaluna was officially champs. Two-time champs. Back-to-back. Trainer Jon opened the gate for me and I took that as the official invitation to get on the field to shoot photos. It was already dark so some of the pictures did not come out.
The girls were lining up to sing the
alma mater. But I interrupted them (I know, how rude of me, but again, I had a
flight to catch) and asked them to gather for a group shot. I had a plane to
catch and I wanted to get that shot. And like the great girls they are, they
lined up for a group shot. I took the shot – several shots – thanked them and
ran off the field as they lined up to sing the alma mater. I hated that I was
going to miss all the post game fun – getting medals, getting group shots with
the medals and congratulatory balloons, but I got more than I could have
expected.
Don’t worry. I made it to my flight. Plenty of time to
spare. I had checked in my bags online and prepaid, so I bypassed the long-ass
line to check in and went to the online check-in line. That saved me at least
30 minutes of wait time (Thank you United!). The TSA lines weren’t as long as I
expected, too. So all in all, it was a great night. Needless to say, I was very
happy and content on my red-eye flight to Chicago, knowing that the Lunas had
won the championship (can you imagine if I left the game before it ended not
knowing who won, having no internet access, and waiting 8 hours to find out?!)
and knowing that I got some pictures of the game. In fact, I spent a few hours
on the flight going over the photos and editing them for posting on Facebook in
the morning after I checked into the hotel.
For Maui News article, click here.
For more photos, click here.
For articles on the Lady Lunas' HHSAA tournament run, click here and here.
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