By KEVIN JAKAHI By KEVIN JAKAHI ADVERTISING Tribune-Herald sports writer Waiakea senior left-hander Quintin Torres-Costa’s first start of the season was a five-inning no-hit gem — boosted with enough offense for a second straight TKO victory at the Warriors Field,
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
Waiakea senior left-hander Quintin Torres-Costa’s first start of the season was a five-inning no-hit gem — boosted with enough offense for a second straight TKO victory at the Warriors Field, which went from water-logged to playable in a short period of time.
Torres-Costa struck out seven and walked three while Kodi Medeiros racked up three RBIs to spark Waiakea over Keaau 11-1 in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I baseball game on Saturday.
Adrian Huff broke up the combined no-hit bid with a one-out single off Medeiros in the sixth. Jonathan Segovia followed with an RBI single, scoring Traysyn Waltjen, who was hit by a pitch. Medeiros, a sophomore left-hander, struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
After giving up a run, Medeiros immediately got it back in the bottom of the sixth with a lead-off, inside-the-park solo homer, a screaming liner to right field that rolled down the hill. He finished 2 for 4, Korin Medeiros went 1 for 3 with two RBIs and Kean Wong was 2 for 2 with an RBI and three stolen bases.
“I felt confident and real comfortable and was seeing the ball come in,” Kodi Medeiros said. “That was my first homer. I reacted and got a good line-drive hit. Like in practice, anyone who hits it down the hill it’s pretty much a home run. It felt great.”
Maleko Remlinger went 3 2/3 innings in the loss, allowing six runs on four hits and striking out two. Cody Silva pitched 1 1/3 innings and Keha Wong recorded an out in the sixth, when Alika Guillermo’s RBI single scored the final run.
Remlinger fired goose eggs through two innings before hurting himself with a pair of back-to-back hit batters in the third. It was the same thing in the fourth.
After two hit batters, Wong bunted for a basehit, and Korin Medeiros followed with a sacrifice fly. Kodi Medeiros, the fourth hitter in the lineup, cleaned up with a two-run double. It was 3-0 and Waiakea’s bats were getting warmed up.
Remlinger beaned back-to-back hitters the next inning, and Matt Camacho followed with a single to load the bases. Torres-Costa slapped a comebacker to Remlinger whose errant throw home led to a run. Wong hit a sacrifice fly, and Korin Medeiros walloped a run-scoring double for a 6-0 cushion.
The Cougars (1-1) had a chance to scratch Torres-Costa in the third when he walked the first two hitters. After a sacrifice to advance the runners, Waltjen put down a safety squeeze bunt on an 0-1 count, but the ball rolled foul. If fair with the soggy grass, a run would have easily scored.
He bunted again on an 0-2 count and was called out for runner’s interference after colliding with first baseman Kylen Uyeda. Torres-Costa got a flyout to end the inning, and that was as good as it got for Keaau’s scoring chances against the hard-throwing lefty, who whiffed three over the next two innings to complete his mound work.
“I felt smooth. I try to stay smooth and it’ll come,” Torres-Costa said. “I was half of it. You also need a good catcher and Kean is a good catcher. I have to give him credit for calling a good game.”
Lost in the double-digit win were Waiakea’s sharpened defense with zero errors, and shortstop Davy Camacho’s intangible improvement. He went 0 for 4 but crushed a pair of long outs to center field. Last season, he played second base. He’s moved over to shortstop, allowing Wong to fill a weak spot at catcher.
The versatile junior, who has played shorstop, third and outfield, also threw out a runner, adding another defensive weapon, along with Camacho, for the Warriros (2-0), who earlier beat Pahoa in five innings.
“Davy has come a long way. He’s worked hard in the cage and is playing with a lot more confidence,” Waiakea coach Kevin Yee said. “He made a play in the hole that I don’t think he would have made a year ago. He’s much stronger and he hit three balls hard. It just happened that they caught all the balls. Keaau made some good running catches in the outfield.”
About an hour before the game, a downpour hammered the field. But it drained well, equaling Wong Stadium’s ability to soak up water. That’s a credit to Buddy Loeffler — the father of former Waiakea standouts Ronnie and Matt Loeffler. Two years ago, Loeffler Construction rebuilt the field, adding dirt, leveling the infield and tapering the edges so rain flows to the outfield.
The game started at 1:30 p.m., just 30 minutes after the scheduled start. No one slipped while running in the outfield or on the bases. There were a few water puddles, but nothing resembling a small pond.
“The field drains really well,” Yee said. “The kids worked really hard on it. They were determined to play. A little water wasn’t going to stop them.”
Keaau 000 001 — 1 2 2
Waiakea 003 332 — 11 8 0
• Kamehameha 22, Pahoa 2: Kaimana Moike batted 3 for 3 with four RBIs, Gideon Kalili had three RBIs, Nainoa Hart and Jordan Hirae were each 2 for 2 and Chay Toson was 2 for 3 to lead the Warriors (1-1).
Bronson Pulgados pitched three innings for the win, striking out seven. He walked two and allowed two hits. Jaston Eleneki tossed two scoreless innings in relief.
Kayden Cox Pacheco pitched two innings in the loss for the Daggers (0-2).
Pahoa 200 00 — 2 2 10
Kamehameha 27(11) 2x — 22 13 0
• Hilo 22, Ka’u 3: Koa Matson collected two hits and five RBIs in Pahala as the Vikings improved to 2-0.
Keenan Nishioka also had two hits for Hilo, and Conrad Kauffman struck out two in two innings to pick up the victory.
Daellan Kai pitched three innings and took the loss for the Trojans (2-0).
169 60 — 22 10
000 03 — 3 5
• Konawaena 8, Honokaa 7 (12 innings): Sophomore Evyn Yamaguchi hit a go-ahead home run in the top of the 12th as defending BIIF Division II champion Konawaena began its season with a victory on the road.
Junior Ryan Torres-Torioka pitched eight innings in relief of junior Jarrett Kitaoka to get the victory. He allowed one run on seven hits, striking out seven while throwing 98 pitches.
Kitaoka gave up five runs on six hits, striking out three and walking one for the Wildcats (1-0).
Senior Haku Daniels, the sixth of seven Dragons pitchers, took the loss. Ikena Juan, Lloyd Edwards, Makani Dias, Dylan Shiraki, Robbie Abran and Damien Kaluhimoku also took the mound or Honokaa (0-2).
Offensively, senior Makana Canda was 4-for-8 and scored a run, while Kitaoka and junior Domonic Morris each went 3-for-6.
Kaluhimoku and Kazu Tolentino both went 3-for-3 for Honokaa, while Dias was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs.
Austin Jardine and Kaniala DeCoito also had two hits apiece for Honokaa.
• Hawaii Prep 6, Kealakehe 3: No further information on this contest was available at press time. HPA improved to 2-0.
