Rain, rain go away

The Big Island Interscholastic Federation had a slew of softball rainouts last week, which certainly doesn’t help any defense in need of repairs.

Without indoor practice facilities, the chances of improving are slim to none, and the result is predictable. On Saturday, Honokaa outscored Hawaii Prep 26-18 in a game that featured 13 errors, including nine by HPA, the home team.

Clash on tap

Fans who didn’t get enough action at the Hawaii Invitational over the weekend can get their fill of boys volleyball at the Punahou Clash of the Titans tourney on April 6-7.

Mira Costa and Corona del Mar, both of California, will face off against Punahou and Division II powerhouse Hawaii Baptist. Mira Costa is ranked No. 6 and Corona del Mar is No. 15 in the ESPN FAB 50. Punahou is ranked No. 2 in the national poll.

On opening day, HBA will play Mira Costa at 5 p.m., followed by Corona del Mar and Punahou at 7 p.m. HBA faces Corona del Mar at 5 p.m. on Apr. 7, followed by Mira Costa and Punahou.

Matches will also be streamed live on www.punahou.edu.

A core effect?

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu hasn’t quite reached its midway point on the baseball diamond, but the effect of BBCOR bats may be in place.

The new, mandatory bats require a smaller “sweet spot” that takes away that old aluminum-bat jolt that gave hitters an edge, at least compared to using wood bats. Since 2010, the league-wide batting average in the ILH has dipped from .321 and .317 (2011) to .283 this season.

Slugging averages have seen a deeper decline, from .447 (’10) and .432 (’11) to .383 this spring.

Individually, it’s a wash. Of 32 hitters with significant playing time in the league last season, 12 are well below last year’s levels in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Sixteen hitters are doing better. Four are at basically the same production rate.

The sample size is small, and plenty can change in the final eight or nine regular-season games. But the most drastic improvements can be credited to Austin Gonzalez of Damien and Tyler Meditz of Kamehameha. Gonzalez is hitting .455 through five games after hitting .097 a year ago. Meditz is at .353 after batting .065 as a junior.