Will the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors play in the post season?

Sunday’s game will decide their fate.

After winning the first game of the series, the Rainbow Warriors lost the second game. In their loss, their opponent scored 12 runs on just 6 hits. Made me think of the Diamondbacks 12-14 loss to the Rockies.

Winning Sunday’s game would earn the Rainbow Warriors entry into the Big West Championship. I had reason for optimism.

Since 2022, the Rainbow Warriors won 9 of 11 games against the Tritons.
Going into the series, the Rainbow Warriors’ batting average with RISP was an excellent .335.
Their excellent defense was reflected by their 45 double plays, which ranked 12th nationally.

Two Rainbow Warriors who later played in the Majors.

Josh Rojas played for the Diamondbacks from 2019 to 2023.

The AZ Snake Pit voted him their unsung hero for the 2021 season.

That season, he played 5 positions. “Getting on base was Rojas’ greatest strength. In 2021, Josh Rojas ranked 19th best in the Majors in OBwooge. In 2021, Josh Rojas’s OBwooge of 190.9 was better than Paul Goldschmidt’s OBwooge of 188.2.” — Makakilo Note: OBwooge = (hits plus walks minus homers) multiplied by (600/PAs).

Kolten Wong played for the Cardinals from 2013 to 2023. From 10 April to 25 May in 2024, as he extended his long career, he played for the Reno Aces. In May, he announced his retirement from professional baseball.

I saw the deciding game.

Their website warned me that “few tickets remain” for Sunday’s game. I felt lucky to get a ticket in row 11 because the game eventually sold out. I very much enjoy small stadiums because all the fans are so close to the action on the field!

The ground level includes the closest 8 rows, plus the skyboxes. After climbing three flights of stairs going up, and then more stairs going down, I arrived at my seat in row 11. What made the final steps challenging was that they were different sizes in a pattern of two small narrow steps and then one large broad step.

I’m not a scout, but I hope that I saw a player who will eventually reach the Majors. Shortstop Jordan Donahue looked like the most likely to reach the Majors.

What happened in the game?

Highlights of my visit include these memories:

I found a very cute sock monkey keychain wearing a Rainbow Warrior shirt. Now, it hangs on my pickleball bag.

Photo by Makakilo.

Before the game, Hula Girls danced!

Photo by Makakilo.

Before the game, I found myself with an eagle eye view of the pitchers warming up. Their warmup equipment was very memorable. See the following pictures.

Photos by Makakilo.

Photos by Makakilo.

Photos by Makakilo.

During the game, the Rainbow Warriors stole home base. Three times, when one of their baserunners was on third base, he would aggressively take three steps toward home, then break back to third base. The third time the runner (Donahue) took 5 or 6 steps. The catcher stood up to catch the pitch and the runner paused about half way. Instead of the catcher walking towards the runner (as I’ve seen in the Majors), he threw to the third baseman. The runner broke towards home. Even a good throw home may not have caught the runner, but the third baseman fumbled the ball and the runner crossed home plate with the crowd cheering.
During the game, with the bases loaded, Donahue hit a grand slam! Wow! That would never get boring! Later in the game, he again stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded. Three fouls hit the backstop net in front of me. Clearly, he was swinging for the fences. Then he hit a fly ball to the outfield with the crowd wildly cheering. Alas mighty Donahue, the left fielder caught the ball.

Celebration after grand slam. Photo by Makakilo.

As you might have guessed, the Rainbow Warriors won the game by a score of 13-2. Because the won the game, they will be playing in the postseason. Well done, Rainbow Warriors!

Players meet after the game. Photo by Makakilo.