Sometimes, patience and a gut feeling are the best options on the table when deciding to either stick with or pull a pitcher at the HHSAA baseball championships.
Hilo coach Baba Lancaster made the right call when he left ace Ocean Gabonia in, despite a one-inning road bump, during an 8-4 win against Kailua in the quarterfinals on Thursday at Maui’s Iron Maehara Stadium.
The senior right-hander finished with a five-hitter to send the No. 3 seed Vikings (14-3) into the semifinals against No. 2 Punahou (15-4) at 4 p.m. Friday, Hilo’s first Final Four appearance since 2012.
That was the BIIF’s best year at states. Waiakea beat Baldwin for the state title, and Hilo placed third. The Vikings upset the Buffanblu, who had won seven championships from 2004 to ’10, in the first round.
Back then, there wasn’t a mandatory pitch count. It was instituted in 2017 and has changed pitching strategy and increased the value of a first-round bye.
No. 1 Baldwin defeated Waiakea 8-5.
The Warriors (15-4) play Kamehameha-Kapalama (14-9) in a consolation game at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
Hilo didn’t have to face Kailua’s best pitcher Bryson Ewaliko, who pitched two innings in a 10-1 nine-inning win over Maui in the first round. He threw 43 pitches and was ineligible for Thursday’s game.
Meanwhile, Lancaster had his own pitching decision in the third when the Surfriders tagged Gabonia for four runs and held a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the third.
Gabonia rewarded him with a complete-game gem. He threw 96 pitches and is done for the tourney.
“He didn’t want to come out,” Lancaster said. “He wanted the ball, and we left him in the game. Ocean pitched a hell of a game. We got some timely hits. Mr. Ahuna hit the ball good today. We played as a team and never gave up. We’ll see what happens. Hopefully, it’ll end up like the (BIIF) playoffs.”
Gabonia saved the bullpen and set up junior right-hander Logan Wilson to pitch in the semifinals. Gabonia allowed four runs and one walk and whiffed five.
The Vikings jumped on No. 3 pitcher Quinn McMurray, who took the loss, for five runs in 4 1/3 innings. Jalen Ah Yat pitched 1 2/3 innings and gave up three runs. He pitched two scoreless innings a night earlier.
That was the cost of a tired bullpen without its best arm, used a game earlier. The face that Ewaliko walked four didn’t help either. And free passes hurt in two ways. Walks put potential runs on the bases and drive up pitch counts.
After McMurray left, Hilo increased its lead from 5-4 to 8-4. The Vikings got four huge runs off a drained second arm instead of an ace.
Ryan Cabreira scored three runs without an at-bat. The Hilo leadoff hitter was hit by a pitch and drew two walks. Maui Ahuna batted 2 for 3 with an RBI, Gabonia was 2 for 2 with three RBIs while Dayson Urbanozo Moses, Paul Antony, Xaige Lancaster, and Micah Freeman each drove in a run.
In the first, Gabonia hit a two-run single. Ahuna had an RBI double in the third to cut Kailua’s lead to 4-3.
The Vikings exploded for four runs in the fifth on four hits and an error. Urbanozo Moses had an RBI single, Antony followed with an RBI, Lancaster reached on an RBI fielder’s choice, and Freeman had an RBI single for a 7-4 cushion.
Waiakea301 010 0 — 5 8 5
Baldwin023 210 x — 8 8 0
Baldwin 8, Waiakea 5: The Warriors bolted to a 3-0 lead after the first inning when Kala’i Rosario smashed a two-run homer, his second of the tourney. But after a scoreless first, the Bears work up from hibernation and never stopped hitting.
Baldwin scored eight runs over the next five innings, and Kaipo Haole pitched 6 2/3 innings for the win. He won with unsightly numbers: five runs allowed on seven hits and two walks and struck out eight.
Stone Miyao went 2 for 3, Rosario 3 for 3 with two RBIs, and Safea Mauai was 2 for 2 with two RBIs. The Warriors received limited production from the rest of the lineup. Hitters No. 4 to No. 9 went a combined 1 for 16.
Cody Hirata went 3 2/3 innings and allowed seven runs in the loss.
Kailua 004 000 0 — 4 5 2
Hilo 201 041 x — 8 8 2