Hilo’s pitching procession was running smooth and tight.
Hilo’s pitching procession was running smooth and tight.
Joey Jarnseki held Kamehameha scoreless into the fifth as he dueled with fellow ace Tai Atkins, and Ryan Ragual was sharp in relief and poised to take the mound for the seventh until he tweaked his hamstring.
Enter Donald Saltiban, and enter a walk on the wild side Monday at Wong Stadium.
Protecting a 1-0 lead, the right-hander walked one batter, threw a wild pitch, hit another batter and the Vikings elected to load the bases via an intentional walk.
“I felt more comfortable like that,” Saltiban said.
It showed. He put all those runner on, just so he could mow the Warriors down, striking out two batters, the first on three pitches, to secure a 1-0 victory in a cross-divisional BIIF showdown that was low on offense but high on drama at the end.
“I knew he had it the whole time,” Hilo senior Nick Antony said – with the reliever by his side.
The Vikings’ first baseman provided the only run of the game in the bottom of the first, squirting the ball to right field for a single to score Stone Miyao, who reached on a walk.
The way Jarneski and Atkins were dealing, Antony figured that run might stand.
“I knew it would,” Antony said. ‘These kind of games, this pitching matchup, you’re not going to score many.”
Both teams embarked on big weeks with a error-less, well-played game that took just a little more than two hours.
“That usually happens when we play each other,” Kamehameha coach Andy Correa said.
The Vikings (7-1) are back at Wong at 5 p.m. Wednesday and need to beat Waiakea (9-0) to have a realistic chance to win the Division I regular-season title. More important, Hilo just doesn’t want to get swept by Waiakea.
Kamehameha (8-1) hosts Konawaena (8-2) and can all but wrap up the top seed in D-II with a win. More important, the Wildcats could use a win against the five-time defending BIIF champion to boost their confidence.
Jarnseki pitched well in a previous loss to Waiakea but was victimized by his defense. Against Kamehameha, he fired 81 pitches in 4 2/3 innings, striking out eight, with four hits allowed and one walk.
“Ever since that Waiakea game, we’ve been working on our defense and we cleaned it up,” Hilo coach Tony De Sa said.
Atkins worked five-plus and unleashed 84 pitches. After allowing a deep double to Miyao in the third, the sophomore retired eight of the final nine batters he faced, striking out six and yielding only three hits with two first-inning walks.
“He was on, and he’s top notch,” De Sa said.
Kamehameha can kick itself for missing on a few scoring opportunities.
In the second, Justyce Ishii drew a two-out walk and Bryce Furuli singled, but Jarneski induced an inning-ending groundout. Braeden Coloma and Ishii singled in the fourth, but Jarneski ended the threat with a strikeout.
“We had our chances, but that’s baseball,” Correa said. “You have to be able to drive in runs.”
And then there was the seventh. With runners on first and second and nobody out, Kobie Kinzie executed a high-risk bunt with two strikes to move the runners over.
A few fans had to be surprised when De Sa decided to load the bases considering the wildness from Saltiban, who is working his way to health from a back injury.
“That how he operates,” De Sa said. “We know that. He makes his best pitches when guys are on.
“He’s hard to hit because he doesn’t throw strikes all the time, so you don’t know what’s coming. It’s not easy to stand in there and take your hacks, because you don’t know where it’s going.”
Konawaena 5, Hawaii Prep 2
Stevie Texeira pitched 5 2/3 strong innings in Waimea, and he doubled in a run at the plate to lift the Wildcats.
Konawaena (8-2) made the most of its five hits. Texeira allowed only two, striking out seven, walking four and yielding only two unearned runs. Tristan DeAguiar (two-thirds of an inning) and Andrew Udac (one) closed it out for Konawaena.
Sheldon Aribal took the loss for Ka Makani (5-6), allowing three hits, five runs – three earned – with a walk and a strikeout.