Hilo’s High’s Mekenna Wakakuwa got the job done one way or another, delivering the big hit his team had been waiting for all season.
Wakakuwa singled home Legend Lancaster with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Vikings a 6-5 win over Kamehameha-Kapalama in eight innings in the first round of the state baseball championships Wednesday at Iron Maehara Stadium on Maui.
With Lancaster on third and one out, coach Baba Lancaster called for a suicide squeeze play, but Wakakuwa bunted the ball foul.
“I was supposed to squeeze but I couldn’t do my job,” Wakakuwa told Tribune News Service. “After that, I knew I was going to get a hit because I wasn’t going to let my team down.”
On the next pitch, he hammered a line drive into right field for his second hit to bring home Legend Lancaster to win it.
“He made me look bad and came in clutch,” Baba Lancaster said about the bunt play. “But I’ll take it.”
The BIIF runner-up Vikings (6-3) advanced to play No. 1 seed Baldwin in the nightcap of the quarterfinals on Thursday in a game that will be broadcast on SpectrumOC16.
Devin Saltiban doubled home two runs for Hilo, which trailed 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Tobey Jackson singled off the glove of Pono Nakano at second two batters later to drive in Saltiban to tie the game.
Lancaster reached on a Kamehameha error with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning and took second on a throwing error by the catcher. Lancaster moved to third on a passed ball before scoring on Wakakuwa’s hit.
“I’m glad they didn’t give up,” Baba Lancaster said. “Kept fighting and battling all the way until the end. Big win for us.”
Eli Yamanaka pitched two shutout innings to get the win. Baba Lancaster lauded Hekili Robello’s 103-pitch, six-inning effort.
“He pitched a hell of game, man, hell of a game,” the coach said.
The Vikings belted 12 hits, getting two apiece from Elijah Haili, Saltiban, Jackson and Wakakuwa. And this time Hilo got the timely hits when it needed one, unlike in three losses to Waiakea this season.
“The boys came through,” Baba Lancaster said. “If we did that against Waiakea, it might have been a different outcome.”
Miecah Andres had two hits and drove in three runs for Kamehameha (12-7-2), which made five errors.
In the final game Wednesday, Kalani edged Maui 2-1 in 10 innings, advancing to face BIIF champion Waiakea (8-0), the third seed at 1:45 p.m. Thursday in a quarterfinal.