KAILUA-KONA — Kealakehe got a surprise start in the circle from Kiara Cantiberos and the Waveriders went on to defeat Hilo 12-9 in the deciding game of a BIIF semifinal matchup on Monday at Old Airport Park.
Cantiberos, who had not pitched since March because of an injury, did not have her best stuff, but it was enough to keep the Vikings offense off-balance for most of the game.
“We teased Kiara that she came out of retirement to pitch in this game, but she did get cleared. We just didn’t want to push her,” Kealakehe head coach Loni Mercado said. “We felt strong in her sister (Kitara Cantiberos), but Kiara came up and said ‘coach, let me do this.’”
The win allows Kealakehe to reach the BIIF championship game for the first time since 2011. They will play Waiakea in a best-of-three series starting on Friday at Waiakea. The Waveriders have never won the title.
Cantiberos wasn’t 100 percent but managed to allow only only five earned runs off 10 hits in her complete game performance. She struck out four and walked two.
“I told her that if she has only 85 percent, then give me 100 percent of that 85 percent,” Mercado said. “I’ll take it.”
The Waveriders offense gave Cantiberos all the run support she would need in the first two innings of the game as Kealakehe exploded for 10 runs. Brittney Keaunui went 2-for-2 over that two inning span, with four RBIs and one run. She had a two-RBI triple in the first inning, followed by a two-RBI double in the second.
“I am on cloud nine right now,” Keaunui said. “We have been wanting this since our freshman year. Coming in as a junior we wanted to do this for our seniors and I think we can keep going.”
Kealakehe won the opening game of the series against Hilo, 9-6. They lost the second game on Saturday, 12-10. While the result of the final game was just as close as the first two games, it did not appear that it would be close early on.
Playing as the visitor at their home ballpark, the Waveriders jumped out 4-0 in the top of the first inning.
Tavian Taketa, who finished the game with three hits, got the ball rolling with a leadoff triple. She scored on a sacrifice fly by Brei McLeod. After a single by Kawehi Kahele, Anna Dela Cruz reached on an error, and Keaunui ripped a shot into the right-center field gap to clear the bases. Keaunui then scored from third when Jami Tan (3 for 4, two RBIs) hit a ball to center that hopped over the fence for a ground-rule double.
The Vikings managed a run in the bottom of the first, but Kealakehe added six more runs in the top of the second.
Leading off for the second inning in a row, Taketa singled to center. McLeod reached on an error and Kahele walked to load the bases. In a strange play, Dela Cruz hit a grounder to third, but a throw was never made to the plate or any base, allowing a run to score.
Kealakehe took advantage of the play when Keaunui doubled down the left field line, scoring McLeod and Kahele. Tan singled to left, bringing home Dela Cruz.
The bases were loaded again when Zay Sanchez walked. Lei Pertubal hit the ball back to the pitcher which resulted in a force out at home, but the next batter, Verly DeCasa, blooped a single down the right field line for the fifth and sixth runs of the inning.
The Vikings scored two runs in the bottom of the frame to cut the deficit to six. The game seemed to turn around quickly going from a slugfest to a pitchers dual after the second inning.
Hilo’s starter, Zoe Cabarloc, allowed only two more runs over the next five innings, both coming in the fourth frame. Cantiberos allowed one run in the third, but then shut down the Viking bats in the fourth, fifth and sixth inning.
Cabarloc seemed to only get better as the game progressed. She faced only seven batters in the final two frames. Cabarloc threw seven innings, allowing 10 earned runs off 14 hits. She struck out one and walked six.
“Zoe did not lose her composure and that was a good thing,” Hilo coach Kelly Galdones said. “Too bad we didn’t make the plays we needed to make.”
Cantiberos was on a similar streak heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. Holding on to a 12-4 lead In the final frame, Kealakehe got the first out quickly. Cabarloc and Gaylynn Ha then reached on singles but a second out came when Samantha Saltiban hit into a fielder’s choice with the out coming at second.
With two outs, Hilo began to rally. Shalyn Guthier (2 for 3, 3 RBIs), Moana Pinner and Patricia Marcus (3 for 4, two runs) had three straight singles to center, knocking in three runs. Breeze Abadilla entered as a courtesy runner for Pinner and and Cierra Keli’i walked to load the bases.
With their lead now down to five runs, it looked as though the Waveriders would escape any more trouble when Haylee Hishijima hit a slow grounder back to the pitcher. However, Cantiberos’ throw home went into the dirt and rolled all the way to the backstop, allowing two runners to cross the plate.
Clinging to a three-run lead, Cantiberos hit the next batter but struck out the Hilo leadoff hitter to end the game.
“We spotted them too many runs,” Galdones said. “It is hard to chase that many runs in a seven inning game.”
