Waiakea was playing in enemy territory against the top seed. Didn’t matter.
The Warriors, of course, fell behind again. Didn’t matter.
They relied on not one, not two, but three pitchers who weren’t used much, if at all, in tight regular season games. Didn’t matter.
One of those three pitchers walked the first two batters in the seventh while trying to protect a two-run lead. Didn’t matter.
Team of destiny? Perhaps.
HHSAA champions? Definitely.
Ascending the mountain top that had barely eluded two of its teams before the pandemic, Waiakea held off Baldwin 3-2 on Saturday night on Maui, delivering the school its second state Division I baseball crown and first in a decade.
“It was amazing, we’ve been grinding for this for a very long time, and without the two seasons, this really meant a lot to us,” senior Kedren Kinzie, who delivered the big hit during the go-ahead three-run rally in the bottom of the fifth, told a statewide audiences on OC16.
Senior Justice Dorser, seldom-used during the regular season, got the win in relief for the second consecutive game and was selected the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. After Dorser walked two batters in the top of the seventh, senior Kyson Wada came on to get the save, stranding the tying run at second and securing the title when a flyout fell into the glove of Dylan Honda in right.
Honda played it nonchalant, at first, after making the catch, but his teammates began celebrating with gusto on the infield.
About the only wrong move coach Chris Honda made in three days at Iron Maehara Stadium was his inability to avoid the Gatorade bath.
“It was worth it,” he said. “One hundred percent, that’s for sure.”
Elijah Igawa started the uprising in the the fifth with a leadoff walk, Kaden Oshiro’s bunt moved pinch-runner Toren Segovia-Tanonaka to second, and Mason Hirata and Devin Garza each worked the count full against Davin Lewis in drawing walks and loading the bases. Wada hit a comebacker to Lewis, who wasn’t able to start what could have been an inning-ending double play. He took the out at first, Wada breathed a huge sign of relief and Segovia-Tanonaka tied the game 1-1.
“Before I swang the bat, I told myself, ‘Don’t hit into the double play. You’re going to mess up the game,”’ Wada said. “I hit this comebacker to the pitcher and I’m like, “Oh, no, you didn’t.’ But then he bobbled it, so I was like, “OK, this is a chance for our team to come back.”’
Next up was Kinzie, and with a two-strike count he hit a ball through the left side to score two.
“Straight up compete,” Kinzie said. “All the teams here, they are very good. You just have to believe in yourself.”
For the third consecutive day, Chris Honda believed in all his players and pushed all the right buttons in a comeback win. He gave the ball to Kaleb delaCuesta-Sato, and the junior, who pitched in relief in the semifinals, allowed just one run and pitched into the fourth before turning the ball over to Dorser, who worked 2 2/3 innings and struck out four. He struck out the side in the sixth, running off the mound after catching Wehiwa Aloy looking.
“They are a good bunch of kids, well they’re men now, who have been together for a long time, and they stick together,” Chris Honda said. “Their teamwork, their bond, their friendship on and off the field is amazing. That’s what carried us through the season.”
Wada finished with two hits for the Warriors (11-0), who avenged a loss to Baldwin in the 2018 title game. In 2017, Waiakea lost to Maui in the final.
These Warriors weren’t to be denied, but not until Wada, who had only pitched one inning all season, was called to the mound with two on and none out in the top of the seventh. He needed all of six pitches to collect three outs, including Christian Dominno’s sacrifice fly with one out to make it 3-2.
“Honestly, I was just telling myself to throw strikes, because the crowd was so loud, the adrenaline was so high,” Wada said. “You kind of black out. You kind of do what you have to do.”
When Isaiah Chaves lifted a catchable flyball to right for Dylan Honda to collect, Wada said he went directly to Yukon Yomono at first to begin celebrating.
“I’m very, very proud, especially of our seniors,” Wada said of a group that also includes Hirata, Honda, Yomono, Oshiro, Igawa, Klayson Herolaga, Caisin Mateo and Reyn Segovia-Tanonaka. “We’ve been through a lot during this COVID pandemic. I feel like we got what we deserved at the end, after all of our hard work.”
Along with Dorser, Wada, Kinzie, Ogawa and Honda, the winner in the quarterfinal win against Kalani, were named to the all-tournament team.
After a stop on Oahu on Sunday morning, Waiakea is scheduled to arrive in Hilo at 12:30 p.m. on Hawaiian Airlines flight 262.
“Lei and a bunch of posters, hopefully,” Kinzie said of the reception he expects.
