2019 State Tournament Preview
The 2019 (84th Annual) State of Hawaii AJA Baseball Championship Tournament will be held April 6 –7, 2019 at Hilo’s Dr. Francis Wong Stadium, hosted by the Hawaii AJA Memorial Baseball League. The Oahu AJA Baseball Association returns as defending Champion and hopes to earn its 5th consecutive Championship.
Formed in 1930 for the purpose of unifying the AJA Baseball leagues throughout Hawaii to determine a State Champion, the Hawaii State AJA Baseball Association continues to crown a State Champion every year since 1930 till the present, except for five years (1942-47) during World War II.
AJA Baseball in Hawaii begins its 115th year of play starting December 2018. Hawaii (the Big Island), Maui, Oahu and Kauai will each crown its own island’s 2018-19 regular season champion who will then compete in the 84th annual State of Hawaii AJA Baseball Championship Tournament. The State AJA Tournament rotates among the four islands with the Hawaii AJA Memorial Baseball League hosting in 2019 welcoming its neighbor island competitors.
The Hawaii State AJA Baseball Association is made up of AJA baseball leagues from each major island.
The Kauai AJA Baseball League will be represented by the Makaweli Indians, its league champion/all stars. Makaweli won it 3rd league title in a row via a playoff with the other 3 teams (Hanapepe Rivermen, Kalaheo Farmers & Kapaa Homesteaders) who finished with identical regular season records of 5 wins 3 losses. The Lihue Townies finished out of the playoff.
The Oahu AJA Baseball Association, returning to defend it State Championship, will be represented by Waipahu who beat Waialae, Pearl City, & Kaneohe on its way to the championship. Ewa & Manoa finished the regular season out of the playoffs while Sheridan and McCully were eliminated in the playoffs. Waipahu won its 22nd overall and 4th of the last 6 years Oahu league championship.
The Maui AJA Baseball League will be represented by the Maui A’s, who won their 1st championship in years by beating out Asahi, Daimyo, Happy Hour and Wailuku. The league expanded this year to 5 teams with the return of Wailuku, one of its original charter members.
The Hawaii AJA Memorial Baseball League will be represented by the Keaukaha Warriors, who beat the defending league champion Waiakea Pirates and the Corsairs. Hawaii will host the 2019 State AJA Baseball Championship Tournament.
Each island’s league is run entirely by volunteers dedicated to perpetuate the century old AJA baseball legacy passed on to them by men before them. This “giri” for those volunteers and those that will follow and of the AJA ballplayers who play now, in the future and the past, makes this league different from any league.