Online newspaper reports from Ontario, Calif., confirm that the Hilo Senior Little League all-stars were the best team in the Western Regional Tournament last week. Coach Kaha Wong’s squad dominated. But some of those same articles focused on Hilo as the common denominator in several allegations of poor sportsmanship, including an accusation of Wong physically going after a coach and a player on the other team, and assistant coach Walter Silva taunting opponents.
But other than barring Silva from the regional championship game, Little League administrators found no reason to sanction Hilo or Wong, who is the adult in charge of the 15- and 16-year-old boys. Video of reactions after the game in question make the allegations against Wong seem overstated.
Wong tried to diffuse ill will after Tuesday’s championship game. "We’re proud of what we accomplished on the field," he told the San Bernardino County Sun. "But we overreacted against Rocklin and did things against Chino that should have never happened, and it’s not something we condone. I am the manager, so I take responsibility for this. If we come back, we’re going to make sure this never happens again, because we don’t want Hawaii represented like this."
Wong spoke with me by phone from the Atlanta airport Friday, as the team was on its way to Bangor, Maine, site of the seniors World Series, which starts Sunday.
He said Silva was no longer with the team.
"He’s a helluva coach and a big part of our team, but he’s not even here. He’s not traveling with us and he won’t be on the field with us for the World Series," Wong said. "I want to show that I don’t tolerate anything of that nature."
Wong also said he was misquoted several times last week, including a report that said he called other teams in the regional "classless."
"What I’d said was the Southern California team was very classy," Wong said Friday.
Wong is the father of Kolten Wong, the first-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals. He has another son, Kean, on this team.
"It’s a shame that the other stuff took away from a tournament with so many talented players, on all the teams," Kaha Wong said. "I don’t think it should be embarrassing to me or Hilo. I think it was blown out of proportion."
Sometimes, what is seen as winning, aggressive play from one dugout looks like bullying from the other one, as one of the rival coaches described Hawaii.
Wong pointed out that he benched his best players against weaker teams in a gesture of good sportsmanship. But even that could be interpreted as otherwise by those so inclined.
We often talk about good that comes to our state because of sports — one facet being the spotlight helps our visitor industry. Some situations create an opposite effect; regardless of the level of fault of the parties involved, accusations, deserved or not, of thuggery by people representing Hawaii don’t help tourism. They make the aloha spirit seem like a myth and discourage potential visitors from spending their time and money in Hawaii.
Now at the Little League Senior World Series, this team is on center stage — and, whether it’s their fault or not, it’s not just for baseball.
Reach Star-Advertiser sports columnist Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com, his "Quick Reads" blog at staradvertiser.com and twitter.com/dave_reardon.
