The word that came to Jordan Kurokawa was “pure.”
“That’s the only way I can put it,” the Hawaii Hilo senior right-hander said Saturday night after arguably his best game of the season, a 3-0 win over Hawaii Pacific at Wong Stadium in which he allowed just one hit, struck out nine and walked only one. “It felt pure out there tonight, everything I did, really, all the way through. It’s a great way to go out on my last game.”
The Vulcans played two outstanding games Saturday, though they fell in the first 1-0 on a cleanly played, well-pitched game by both teams.
“The last two days have been so upbeat, it’s been a real pleasure,” said Vulcans coach Kallen Miyataki after the doubleheader split that left them 7-27 in the PacWest and 8-32 overall. “The spirits are up, we have practiced really hard and it feels like it’s all paying off.”
It surely did in the second game when the crowd of 433 was treated to an outstanding effort by one of the top pitchers Division II baseball and a good job of manufacturing runs by his teammates.
Hawaii Hilo bunched all its runs in the fourth inning when Kyle Yamada led off with a single, moved to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Jacob Grijavla and came around to score on Phil Steering’s double. Sean Nearhoof singled and Steering scored on an error before Jonathan Segovia reached on and error, bringing Nearhoof in.
“This is how we play,” Miyataki said, “we have to put the game in motion, stay away from errors and manufacture runs here and there. It was a real pleasure to watch them come together like this.
“I feel like we’re making a difference here,” he said, “our ideas are sinking in and the players are performing. Those two games today were about as good as college baseball gets at this level.”
Kurokawa’s complete game bookended his season in good fashion, with a 1-0 win over UH-Manoa in the season opener, followed by this shutout.
“It’s probably about right that those were his two best games,” Miyataki said. “I’m really happy for him, how he toughed it out with us and he will look back and be able to say he had a good part of his baseball life here in Hilo. What he does next remains to be seen but we are very grateful to have had him with us.”
HPU 1, UH-Hilo 0: A first inning solo home run by catcher Steve Camberos was all the Sharks needed in the first game against David Moody (3-6), who pitched a gem but came away with a loss to show for it.
Moody spaced eight hits, seven of them singles, in his complete game effort that included no walks and two strikeouts.
Phil Steering had two singles in four plate appearances, but the Vulcans were able to manage just four other base hits in the game.
The season comes to a close for both teams Sunday with a nine inning game, followed by a seven-inning game. First pitch for the opener is scheduled for noon at Wong Stadium.
