Waiakea’s Brandee Chinen was describing her first home run of the season in a postgame interview when teammate Shaily Moses interjected.
“I want to be noticed, too,” Moses said.
Don’t worry, Shaily, even after the Warriors’ prolific day at the plate there is room enough for everybody.
Coach Bo Saiki said the Warriors wern’t paying attention, but because of the BIIF’s tiebreaker rule, they, in effect, started Tuesday’s game against Kealakehe needing to make up 10 runs. Waiakea made them all up in the first inning alone and went on to beat the Waveriders 18-5, putting itself in the driver’s seat after forcing a tie atop Division I.
The Warriors (10-2) batted around in each of the first two innings in denying Kealakehe (10-2) an automatic berth to HHSAA tournament. Each will host BIIF semifinals series.
The teams have traded TKOs against one another, but Waiakea’s was by a larger margin than Kealakehe’s 15-5 victory on March 26, giving the Warriors the top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs should they beat Hilo on Friday in the regular season finale. Kealakehe finishes with a game at Keaau on Saturday.
“This lineup I put in was all my power, all my bats,” Saiki said. “Every single one of then, I threw them in there.”
That included Chinen, the cleanup hitter, and No. 3 hitter Skylar Thomas, who each homered and drove in five run and four runs, respectively.
“We had to focus and keep our defense clean” Chinen said.
With ace Kiara Cantiberos nursing an injured knee and a postseason spot assured, Kealakehe coach Loni Mercado decided to start Kesha Ann Mori-Pucong in the circle, and she ran into control problems and left after two-thirds of an inning.
The Waveriders saw their nine-game winning streak come to an end, and Mercado felt her squad psyched itself out before the game even began.
“They were talking like it was the biggest game ever,” Mercado said. “I told them it was just another regular season game, but it went in one ear and out the other.”
Staked to a big lead, Jourdan Perreira pitched 2 2/3 innings and Alyssa Hara worked the final 2 1/3.
Saiki praised his team’s improved pitching and downplayed the tenacity with which it hit the ball, but it did the trick.
Thomas clubbed a three-run home run in the first as Waiakea took advantage of six walks and sent 15 batters to the plate. With the bases loaded, Chinen capped the rally with a bases-clearing single as Thomas scored all the way from first.
“I’ve had a hard time with inside pitches, so coach taught me to throw my hands out there early, so that’s what I did,” Chinen said.
In the fourth, Chinen ripped a home run down the left field line. Moses did her part, too, driving in two with a single during Waiakea’s five-run second inning, and tripling and scoring in the fourth. Perreira (eight hits, two walks, one strikeout and five runs) finished with two hits, and Taylor Nishimura was a prime catalyst, scoring four runs. Hara struck out four.
Kitara Cantiberos, Tavian Taketa, Zayanna Sanchez and, Brei McLeod bunched hits together in the third as Kealakehe scored four runs. Taketa and Sanchez each finished with two hits. Cantiberos, a freshman, worked the final 3 1/3 innings in the circle.
“This is not the last of us,” Mercado said. “I think this will give us a spark, and we needed that.”
Kealakehe 014 00 – 5 8 4
Waiakea (10)51 2x – 15 10 1
Hilo 13, Keaau 5: The visiting Vikings turned their third triple play of the season during a road victory that locked down the third seed in Division I for Hilo (6-6).
Zoe Cabarloc struck out 10 in a complete game, Patricia Marcus had four hits and Shalyn Guthier drove in three runs. Gaylynn Ha scored three times and was 3 for 5, and Samantha Saltiban finished with three RBIs.
Stacilynn Ng finished with two hits for the Cougars (3-9), who are relegated to the fourth seed. Caitlyn Calhoun went the distance, striking out six and walking four, and she was hurt by a number of errors.
