BIIF baseball: Waiakea’s unrivaled execution trumps beat Hilo

Editor’s note: This story was modified to reflect that Ocean Gabonia pitched a scoreless inning of relief for Hilo.

Waiakea played another round of disciplined ball against Hilo in the second meeting of the annual crosstown diamond rivalry, sweeping the three key categories of hitting, pitching and defense.

Again, the Warrior played a cleaner brand of baseball and defeated the Vikings 8-1 in a BIIF Division I showdown Wednesday night at Wong Stadium.

Waiakea senior right-hander Makoa Andres survived a shaky first inning and finished with a two-hitter. He allowed a run, walked two, hit a batter, and whiffed five on 104 pitches.

“In the first inning, I was rushing my motion and getting ahead of myself too much,” Andres said. “Then I relaxed and let the defense work. This team works closer together than any other team. We’re getting closer and closer.”

Casey Yamauchi batted 2 for 3, walked once, scored two runs and set the table as an ideal leadoff hitter for Waiakea (10-0). In four at-bats, he took 18 pitches, going to a full count twice and taking a seven-pitch walk.

Nate Minami, the No. 3 hitter, also impacted the game despite going 1 for 2 and rarely seeing good pitches to hit. He walked twice and gave RBI opportunities to Jacob Igawa, who went 1 for 2 with two RBIs. Andres batted 2 for 3, and David Nakamura went 1 for 2 with two RBIs.

“Casey has been great in the leadoff spot. He’s stepped up,” Waiakea coach Rory Inouye said. “That was Nate’s spot and Nate’s doing a great job staying disciplined and letting Jacob pick him up.

“Jacob keeps working hard, and he’s getting better every week. He’s a great catcher and third baseman for us.”

Both Yamauchi and Igawa are first-time starters as juniors at third base and catcher, respectively. And the other up-the-middle difference maker is junior shortstop Trayden Tamiya, who played flawless defense, batted 1 for 2 with an RBI, and had a sacrifice bunt in the first inning.

Toa Barclay pitched four innings of two-run ball in the loss for the Vikings (7-2), who had one error, which led to four unearned runs and saw their pitching depth tested.

The Vikings couldn’t rely on senior ace right-hander Joey Jarneski, who was ineligible after throwing 81 pitches in Monday’s 1-0 win over Kamehameha.

After Barclay, Briden Silva recorded an out in the fifth, got a quick hook and gave up three runs (one unearned). Noah Kalaola Richardson got two outs but gave up three runs (all unearned). Ocean Gabonia pitched a scoreless inning.

Each team had an error but Waiakea’s was harmless while Hilo’s was costly and painful. The Vikings also had a mental error that led to a first-inning run.

In the first, a pair of free passes cost Andres a run when he walked Stone Miyao and hit Joey Jarneski. Chase Costa-Ishii, who has both of Hilo’s hits, worked a full count and smashed a hanging slider up the middle for an RBI single.

At that point, Andres couldn’t find his release point and had little feel for his breaking ball but escaped. He threw 23 pitches in the first, then Hilo started to swing at early pitches and hit long flyouts. His next highest pitch count inning was the sixth with 18 pitches.

Waiakea responded with a run in the bottom of the first inning on a Vikings’ mental error. Yamauchi slapped a single between first and second base, stole third base when no one was stationed there, and scored on Igawa’s sacrifice fly.

Hilo coach Tony De Sa knows how tough a hitter Igawa is. Igawa also had an RBI single in the fifth. He played on the Hilo RBI team, coached by De Sa, that reached the World Series in Cincinnati last summer.

“Our approach was to hit the ball hard, hit a line drive and make them make a play,” Igawa said. “In the summer, I played on the RBI team and worked on my hitting with my dad and coach Kaha Wong (at the Big Island Wooden Bat League).”

In the fifth, Hilo committed a fielding error, which led to four unearned runs in Waiakea’s six-run outburst. The Warriors also scored on a base-loaded walk by Gehrig Octavio. Nakamura’s two-run single highlighted the four-hit frame.

Waiakea’s outfield defense, of Octavio in center, Nakamura in right, and Minami in left, also had several diamond gems. Throughout the game, they were well-positioned to catch deep fly balls banged by Hilo’s Micah Bello, who went hitless but hit everything hard.

For the final out, it appeared Nainoa Kane-Yates would give the Vikings a late spark with a dropping single. But Minami was perfectly positioned and made a sliding catch to wrap things up.

“Hilo hit the ball hard, but it was right at us,” Inouye said. “Makoa did a great job mixing up his pitches. We’ve got two more weeks, but we know if we see Hilo again it’ll be another battle. We’re just focused on HPA on Saturday.”

Hilo 100 000 0 — 1 2 1

Waiakea 101 060 x — 8 9 1

Hawaii Prep 7, Honokaa 1

Jonah Hurney pitched five innings without giving up an earned run, and at the plate he was 3 for 4 with an RBI and a double as the visiting Ka Makani evened their record at 6-6.

Hurney fueled a four-run fourth inning with a leadoff single, coming around to score on Blake Winston’s hit. Sheldon Aribal drove in a run with one of his two hits, and Ry Bleckel collected a two-run double. Tristan Sienkiewicz was 2 for 4 for HPA.

Hurney struck out four without walking a batter, yielding a run and three hits.

Canen Perreira worked 3 2/3 innings and took the loss for the Dragons (2-8).

Kamehameha 14, Keaau 3

Kegan Miura and Dustin Asuncion homered during the Warriors’ 13-run fourth inning, as Kamehameha went from trailing to winning a TKO at home.

Miura finished with five RBIs, including an inside-the-park grand slam. Kobie Kinzie drilled a three-run triple in the fourth and Jai Cabatbat finished 2 for 3.

Justice Ishii started and struck out two and allowed one run for the Warriors (9-1), and Asuncion (one run), Ridge Ishii and Braeden Coloma (one run) each worked an inning. Coloma yielded Keaau’s only hit.

Edward Oguma was the losing pitcher for the Cougars (4-7). At the plate, he collected two RBIs.

Kealakehe 10, Kohala 9

For the second consecutive game, Kealakehe managed to win in walk-off fashion, denying the Cowgirls their first win.

The latest victory was a unique game that kept the coaches guessing what would happen next. Both teams found runs early with three apiece in the opening inning. While the start of the game gave the illusion of a slugfest, neither team would score again until the fifth, when both Kealakehe and Kohala managed one run each.

Chaos ensued in the sixth frame as pitching gave way to hitting with the Cowboys showing patience at the plate to out-score the Waveriders 6-4 for a 9-8 lead heading into the final frame.

Kohala went down in order in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the inning, Kealakehe – which defeated Honokaa in 11 innings on Monday – managed to put two runners on base, setting the stage for freshman Kai Orlando, who ripped a single to left, scoring the tying and winning run.

Toby Estrella took the hill in the seventh inning for the Waveriders and picked up the win. Kaimi Hook took the loss after entering the game in the sixth.