Every time Tai Atkins pitches in the HHSAA Division II tournament he’s been a hammer who nails down wins. Basically, he’s been an unbeatable giant.
As a freshman in 2016, he pitched 6 /3 innings in a 9-1 win over St. Francis in the semifinals. That year, the Warriors beat Kapolei 5-4 for their first state title.
As a sophomore, he pitched four shutout innings in an 8-0 win over Radford in the first round. The Warriors took third that year.
Last year, Zakaia Michaels pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed four runs against Radford in the first round. The Rams sneaked out a 6-4 win, and Atkins pitched five innings in the fifth-place game, a 7-3 victory over Konawaena.
In his final turn on the big stage, Atkins delivered another sublime performance. The senior left-hander fired a three-hitter in a 12-2 win over Waipahu in the first round on Thursday at Kauai’s Vidinha Stadium.
“It feels really awesome, coming back from last year,” Atkins said in an interview from the Garden Isle. “It’s definitely a good one for our team. Our focus was on today’s game.
“In the bullpen during warm-ups, my adrenaline was running. When I got on the field, I had the jitters. But my pitches were falling into place, the batters were swinging and missing, and when I got back to the bench the jitters were gone. The offense took off from there.”
The Division II tournament is a different animal than the Division I tourney. The D-II is over three days, instead of four, and has eight teams and no first-round bye.
There’s a temptation to game plan around the mandated pitch count. Pitchers who throw 36 to 60 pitches have to rest one day. Pitchers can’t pitch in three consecutive games either.
Atkins dominated the Marauders. He walked two and struck out 14. Those stats just add to a four-year stretch of pitching prowess. He can’t pitch again, but he can swing the bat, at least. He went 1 for 3.
For his career at states, he’s 3-0 with a 0.65 ERA in 21 2/3 innings. He’s allowed just nine hits and five walks and struck out 43, a 13.9 strikeout per seven-inning average.
The Warriors jumped on the Marauders in the first inning when Braeden Coloma clubbed a three-run homer.
Waipahu answered with a run in the second with a walk, followed by Radlee Ferreira’s triple. Atkins showed the advantage of power pitching with two strikeouts to end the threat.
In the second, Kamehameha scored four runs to provide Atkins a 7-1 cushion. Kalani Marquez and Atkins walked, and Rydge Ishii followed with an RBI double. La’a Asuncion and Bula Ahuna had RBI singles, and two outs later Bryce Furuli cranked an RBI single for a 7-1 lead.
In the third, Ishii walked and Asuncion drilled an RBI double to center field. The Warriors added another run in the fourth when Ayson Mar was hit by a pitch, and Marquez hit a two-out RBI double.
Waipahu scored on an error by Atkins in the fifth. But it was already 9-2 with six outs remaining for Waipahu. The OIA runner-up didn’t know it at the time but its expiration was near.
The Warriors closed the game with three runs in the bottom of the inning for a 10-run TKO mercy knockout.
Ishii started the hit parade with a double, Asuncion singled, and Ahuna hit a sacrifice fly. Later, Furuli hit a two-run single, another two-run basehit.
Ishii batted 2 for 3 with an RBI, Asuncion 3 for 4 with two RBIs, Ahuna had two RBIs, Coloma three RBIs, and Furuli was 2 for 4 with three RBIs.
Makana Quia-Estaniqu went one inning and gave up seven runs in the loss.
No. 1 seed Kamehameha (19-0) faces No. 4 seed and hometown favorite Waimea (8-4) in the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
At the end of a quick interview, Atkins had a job to finish. He and his teammates were scouting the last game of the night, Waimea vs. Molokai.
“We’re watching the game. Then we’ll get back to the hotel,” he said. “The next day we’ll go back to our routine again.”
Waipahu 010 01 — 2 3 1
Kamehameha 341 13 — 12 12 1
St. Francis 11, Konawaena 5: The Saints scored five runs in the fifth to turn a 5-4 lead into a 10-4 advantage and prevailed behind Max Stinemann’s two-innings of one-run relief.
James Kapela went three innings and allowed three runs in the loss. Bronson Rivera followed with an inning and gave up two runs. Jaimison Medeiros faced six batters in the fifth, recorded no outs and gave up five runs. Boaz Ayers pitched two innings and surrendered a run.
Stephen Kiyo Perry pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed four runs and nine hits for the win.
Tevin Canda, and Bronson and Kanai Rivera each had two hits, and Kanai Rivera had two RBIs for the Wildcats (11-9), who play a consolation game at 10:30 a.m. Friday.
Konawaena 020 020 1 — 5 10 3
St. Francis 030 251 x — 11 11 2