Tribune-Herald
Darling Read has proved to be an important part of the Hawaii Stars’ success so far this young season.
Read finished with two hits and two runs scored and started the go-ahead rally with a walk Saturday night as Hawaii beat the Ishikawa Million Stars 4-3 at Wong Stadium.
The Stars (2-3) of the Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs trailed 3-0 when starting pitcher Matt Stroboli left after five innings, but four relievers — including Waiakea graduate Michael Kenui — combined to shut out Ishikawa on only one hit.
Opportunistic Hawaii scratched across three runs in the seventh inning despite getting only one hit, an infield single by Matt Hibbert that scored Read to cut Ishikawa’s lead to 3-2. Hibbert and Anthony Williams, who drew one of Suguru Matsuyama’s three walks in the inning, each scored on errors.
Devon Ramirez got two outs to pick up the victory. Tony York came on in the eighth and pitched 1 1/3 innings with two strikeouts, and Brian Escanio struck out both batters he faced to nail down the save.
The Stars will send former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Onan Masaoka to the mound at 1:35 p.m. today at Wong Stadium in the rubber game of the series. In honor of Masaoka, fans wearing Dodgers apparel will be admitted for half price.
Read also played a prominent role in Hawaii’s first win this season, homering and driving in two runs Thursday against Shinano. Read was hitless in Hawaii’s three losses.
He helped the Stars get on the board Saturday in the fifth, singling with one out, stealing second, moving to third on a fielder’s choice and scoring on Dustin Smith’s hit.
In his first start of the season, Stroboli allowed six hits, two earned runs, two walks and four strikeouts before giving way to Kenui, who struck out three and allowed a hit in an inning and one-third.
Noboyuki Ogura finished 3 for 5 for Ishikawa, a semi-pro Japanese team in the Baseball Challenge League. Kenta Satoh had an RBI double and drove in two runs and Chris Carter scored twice.
Matsuyama walked four in two innings and lost the game in relief of Takashi Ko, who fanned seven over five innings and yielded a run, three hits and two walks.
