Kody Leiu begins sliding into second base in a match against McKinley. Leiu was 4-of-5 at the plate bringing home 3 runs and stole one base. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Brendan Moy attempts to slide on third ahead of a Farrington defender. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Paul Madamba releases a pitch towards home plate in a match against McKinley. Sylvia Lee | SL

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It was not baseball as it used to be at McKinley High School.

Farrington made the most out of six hits in part to 11 walks allowed and eight errors by McKinley in a 16-10 O'ahu Interscholastic Association White victory Wednesday at the Tigers' diamond.

Governors' leadoff hitter Jacob Baguio had the most unusual box score line that reads 0-5-0-0 (no official at-bats, five runs scored) because he drew five walks, as Farrington improved to 2-1.

Brendan Moy had an impressive outing in relief, striking out 10 in four innings after starting the game at shortstop for the Tigers, who fell to 1-2.

The Governors sent 12 batters to the plate in an eight-run third inning, where the Tigers walked five batters and committed two errors on a single pick-off play.

Farrington pitchers limited the Tigers to three hits, but issued 14 walks and hit two batters. Kona Bagood-Makanui had one of the three hits, a bases-clearing double in a five-run fifth inning.

The performance was a far cry from the way the game was played on that same field nearly four decades ago. That is when Farrington first-year coach Eric Tokunaga and McKinley fifth-year coach Patrick Ganeku were teammates on McKinley's most successful team. Tokunaga ('76), who went on to play at the University of Hawai'i, and Ganeku ('77) played on the Tigers' 76 team that finished second in the state, losing to the Derek Tatsuno-led 'Aiea Na Alii. Only a week earlier, McKinley beat 'Aiea for the OIA championship, handing Tatsuno his only high school loss against 27 wins.

Today, the coaches are trying to restore some semblance of the way the game should be played at the two inner-city schools, where football and basketball enjoy consistent success. But the demographics have changed in their areas. Families from the 1970s and 1980s began moving to the suburbs of Pearl City, Mililani, Waipio, Ewa Beach and Kapolei, areas of strong youth baseball programs. Look at where the Little League and PONY state and national champions have come from in recent decades?

Farrington has one winning season in the past 28 years, the last in 2011 (6-5), when it finished second in the OIA White East. The Governors' last double-digit win season was 1985 (10-5), when they finished second in the old Honolulu District. The school's last league and state championship was 1963 (John Matias' team), when Farrington was in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu.

"The problem with Farrington is we don't have the facilities," Tokunaga said. "It's not like a real baseball community. Football and basketball dominates, so we're just trying to establish our identity."

Farrington plays its home games at Joey De Sa Field, but practices are on campus.

When Tokunaga played at McKinley, everyone on the team had honed his skills from some youth league in the Ala Wai, Moiliili, Nuuanu or Manoa areas. While more than half his players have some youth league experience, some are playing for the first time. His previous coaching experiences include being head coach of Punahou softball during the late 1980s and as an assistant for Kamehameha baseball during the 1990s. Players had fundamentals that just needed fine tuning.

"At Kamehameha, it was more like teaching and making sure they stayed on the right track," Tokunaga said. "But here is a little bit different. It's more player development."

Tryouts for baseball was moderate with about 28 players. He kept 16.

At McKinley, turnouts for baseball have been a challenge for Ganeku, who has 15 players. He has had 12 in previous seasons; sometimes he found himself down to nine, the minimum needed to avoid forfeiture. Worse, McKinley has not fielded a JV team the past three years, hindering development of players who sorely need the experience.

"It's so hard," Ganeku said. "We cannot develop the kids. We're bringing the freshman straight up to varsity already. They're inexperienced, but they have to play because that's all we got."

Making matters worse is some tryout for the first time as juniors, so they enter the sport having lost two years to develop their skills.

Despite the quality of play not being up to where it was when he played, Tokunaga said he does not see coaching at Farrington as a challenge.

"We have a lot of support from the administration, the athletic department, so it' been a fun ride so far," Tokunaga said.