2020 (85th Annual) State Tournament Announcement/Preview
The 2020 (85th Annual) State of Hawaii AJA Baseball Championship Tournament was CANCELLED for the 1st time since 1947 for health & safety reasons due to the COVID19 virus pandemic. Scheduled for April 2020 at Iron Maehara Baseball Stadium, hosted by the Maui AJA Baseball League, the Tournament was rescheduled to return in April 2021 to Maui’s Iron Maehara Baseball Stadium, courtesy of Maui AJA Baseball League.
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 continued to crown a State Champion every year since 1930 till the present, except for five years (1942-47) during World War II and the first COVID pandemic year (2019-2020).
AJA Baseball in Hawaii began its 116th year of play starting December 2019. Hawaii (the Big Island), Maui, Oahu and Kauai each crowned its own island’s 2019-20 regular season champion who then planned to compete in the 85th annual State of Hawaii AJA Baseball Championship Tournament. The State AJA Tournament rotates among the four islands with the Maui AJA Baseball League scheduled to host in 2020 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 was not able to complete its 2019-2020 season due to health & safety reasons of the COVID19 virus pandemic and did not crown a League Champion.
The Oahu AJA Baseball Association, returning to defend it 2018-2019 State Championship, was to be represented by Waialae who beat Waipahu & Manoa in the playoffs on its way to the Oahu League Championship. Waialae won its 5th Oahu Championship since 2008.
The Maui AJA Baseball League was to be represented by Daimyo, led by the League’s Most Outstanding Player Jay Texeira, Batting Champ Joey Tam Ho of Happy Hour and RBI Leader Meade Tabata of Happy Hour.
The Hawaii AJA Memorial Baseball League was to be represented by Co-Champions Waiakea Pirates and Keaukaha Warriors with League Most Valuable Player Onan Masaoka, Batting Champ Trayden Tamiya and RBI Leader Aidan Ah Hee.
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.