The Maui Adult Baseball League’s two remaining teams will square off in the Summer 2021 Championship Series with game 1 of the best of 3 series being played Sunday, December 5 at Eddie Tam Memorial Park in Makawao. The Makena Royals, who entered the playoffs as the league’s top seed after going 11-3 in the regular season, defeated the West Maui Brewers two games to none to advance to their third straight Championship Series. After going 9-5 in the regular season and earning the third seed for the playoffs, the Central Rays beat the Upcountry Dirtbags in the first round of the MABL Playoffs, and advanced to the Championship Series by winning the deciding third game of their series against the La Perouse Pirates last weekend. Despite their 8 MABL titles being the most in league history, this will be the Rays’ first trip to the Championship Series in the last four years. The Rays won both regular season matchups between these two teams this season.
The Royals were powered by the MABL’s top offense during the Spring 2021 season. Their .343 team average led the league, with extra-base hits (42), on-base percentage (.446), and slugging percentage (.463) all tops in the MABL by healthy margins as well. Leadoff Mitchell Crim led the league in hitting (.488, 20 for 41) while Jacob Tiu tied the MABL single-season mark for home runs after going deep in the last three games of the regular season. Lefty Justin Cayaban led the team in innings pitched, posting a 2.70 ERA while going 2-2 and holding opponents to a .249 average over 26.2 innings during the regular season.
The Royals’ bats will be met by the league’s top pitching staff, as the Rays led the league in ERA (3.68), strike outs (112), and WHIP (1.41) during the regular season. The Rays pitching staff was lead by Micah Richarson (2-0, 2.00 ERA, 49 K over 36.0 innings) and rookie Chris Mullins (1-2, 5.54 ERA, 22 K over 26.0 innings). The Rays’ offense was powered by veterans Garrett Yamada (.452/.575/.581 AVG/OBP/SLG, 14 H, 15 R) and Jeremy Loque (.417/.553/.611, 15 H, 1 HR, 11 RBI). In addition, shortstop Edison Sakata enters the series riding the longest hitting streak in MABL history at 26 games.
Championship game results and photos will be posted on the website following the games. For additional updates, be sure to check out the league’s social media pages (Facebook, Instagram).