Mid-Pacific vs. Mililani
The quarterfinal round ends with a rematch of last year’s Division I state championship game. Sophomore Chase Wago will start for top-seeded MPI. Junior Micah Chinen gets the ball for Mililani. The winner faces Kailua in the 4 p.m. semifinal on Thursday.
Inning 1
Mililani leadoff hitter Kaimana Souza-Paaluhi reaches on an infield single when MPI second baseman Ryne Yamashiro makes a diving stop but the first baseman can’t dig out the throw. Catcher Noah Shackles makes a diving catch of a popped up bunt for the first out. Trevor Inouye lines a single into center and Sean Sonognini loops another single into left to score Souza-Paaluhi from second. Both runners advance on a ground out. Justice Nakagawa’s liner into center field gets past a diving Cal Muramaru for a two-run double and Mililani leads 3-0. Micah Chinen gives up a one-out walk, but erases it with a double play started by Nakagawa at shortstop.
Inning 2
Ty Desa’s flyball is misjudged in left field, but Muramaru is there to back up the play and throws Desa out at second. Souza-Paaluhi reaches on a two-out bunt single down the third-base line, but Wago gets out of the inning with a called third strike.
Cameron Igarashi reaches on a throwing error and Dunn Muramaru sends him on a 1-1 pitch to Tyler Yamaguchi, who lines a double down the right-field line. Igarashi comes all the way around to score MPI’s first run. Mililani leads 3-1 going into the third.
Inning 3
After two quick outs, Adam Connell doubles to left-center and Nakagawa drives him in with a single to left. Pitching change for MPI and Jacob Maekawa takes over for Wago (4 runs, 8 hits, 1 K, 0 BB). Maekawa gets a ground out to third to end the inning. Mililani up 4-1.
Chinen retires MPI in order on nine pitches.
Inning 4
Devin Awai singles with one out for Mililani’s ninth hit, but Maekawa picks him off of first and gets a groundout to second to end the top half of the inning.
Noah Shackles beats out an infield single and courtesy runner Jarrod Infante steals second on the next pitch. Infante takes third on a wild pitch and scores on Igarashi’s sac fly. Awai makes the catch despite a collision with Souza-Paaluhi coming over from center. Mililani appeals at third to no avail. A ground out to second ends the inning with Mililani leading 4-2.
Inning 5
Maekawa gets a strikeout and catches a pop up for the first two outs then hits Sonognini. Yamaguchi ranges over to make the play on Connell’s bouncer up the middle and the Owls are out of the inning.
Clean inning for Chinen with a ground out to first and two fly outs. Trojans still lead 4-2.
Inning 6
Maekawa retires Mililani in order on two fly outs and a grounder to first in a quiet top of the inning.
Mililani’s defense is backing up Chinen as Souza-Paaluhi tracks down Cal Muramaru’s drive to right-center for the second out. Nicholas Bottom grounds to third and is called out on a close play at first. Chinen has retired eight straight as Mililani takes a 4-2 lead into the seventh.
Inning 7
Devin Awai is hit by a pitch to lead off the inning for Mililani. Souza-Paaluhi can’t bunt him over but makes up for it with a single through the left side. Both runners move up on Micah Yogi’s grounder to first and Awai scores on a wild pitch to Trevor Inouye. Inouye hits a fly ball to right and Bryce Nagata throws out Souza-Paaluhi at the plate for an inning-ending double play. Still, Mililani is three outs away from advancing up 5-2.
Both teams on the top step of their dugouts and Shackles leads off the inning with a single through the left side, MPI’s third hit off of Chinen. Infante in to run for Shackles. Chinen falls behind 3-0 to Igarashi but battles back to get his first strikeout of the game. Infante steals second. Yamaguchi triples to center field to drive in Infante and it’s 5-3 with one out. Ryan Kiyotoki grounds out to short to bring in another run. Mililani 5, Mid-Pacific 4, bases empty, two outs and Jarrett Lum at the plate. Ball one in the dirt. Strike one, outside corner. Strike two looking. Ball two. Hit by pitch, in the thigh. Sean Kinel in to run for Lum, Ryne Yamashiro at the plate, looks at strike one. Ball one. Ball two, high, and Kinel steals second. Strike two looking. Ground ball to short handled cleanly, and Mililani wins 5-4. They play Kailua tomorrow.
Waiakea vs. Saint Louis
The one everyone has been waiting for will begin at 5 p.m. Waiakea will put Kodi Medeiros against Saint Louis ace Jordan Yamamoto.
Here is what Perfect Game has to say about the Big Island boy:
http://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.aspx?ID=338836
Yamamoto is a little less heralded:
http://www.perfectgame.org/players/playerprofile.aspx?ID=335182
The winner of this game moves on to play Campbell in the semifinals on Thursday at 7 p.m. Saint Louis has not won a state title since 1974 and Campbell has been waiting since 1978. Waiakea won it all two years ago with Medeiros on the hill in the seventh to close out a no-hitter for the Warriors.
Inning 1
Medeiros starts with three balls before Romero bounces a 3-2 pitch back up the middle. Throwing error by shortstop allows Romero to reach but catcher Tyler Aburamen backs it up perfectly and throws out Romero trying to get to second. Mopas draws a five-pitch walk. Medeiros with three straight strikes, blowing a fastball past Gribbin for his first strikeout. Kuhns strikes out on three pitches as Medeiros goes to the slider to put away Saint Louis.
Yamamoto comes out sharp and retires the side with two strikeouts. Working on getting proper velocity numbers. Sounds like Oceanic’s gun might be a little slow.
Inning 2
Medeiros sitting at 91-93 MPH on his fastball with a slider right around 80. Perfect 1-2-3 inning including a strikeout of Stubblefield, who has signed with UH. Yamamoto touched 93 in the first inning but is sitting between 88 and 91 with a changeup in the mid-70s. Yamamoto with two more strikeouts to get to four. A two-out walk is erased on a pickoff.
Inning 3
Uchima is hit by a pitch to start the inning and steals second. Medeiros strikes out Romero for the second out. Mopas with a slow grounder back up the middle for an infield hit but Uchima tries to score on the play and is thrown out easily at the plate. Yamamoto gets his fifth strikeout in the first seven batters and retires the side. Should have had a sixth K but wasn’t called third strike.
Inning 4
Both guys as advertised. Medeiros’ slider is just ridiculous. 45 pitches for Medeiros, 42 for Yamamoto through 3. Fifth strikeout for Medeiros with two nasty slider that come right in on the righties. Yamamoto beats out an infield hit with two outs before Stubblefield grounds out to short on a 2-0 pitch. Medeiros gets Yamamoto back with Waiakea’s first hit of the game between first and second. Caleb Freitas-Fields with a line-drive single to center on a hit-and-run and Waiakea has men on the corners with one out. Saint Louis picks off the runner at third cheating down the line 2-5-2-6. Huge mistake by Waiakea. Yamamoto strikes out Minami on a nasty slider and Saint Louis is out of it.
Inning 5
Jacob White works a seven-pitch walk and goes to second on the bunt. Two outs for Romero, who takes Medeiros’ 74th pitch into right-center for a base hit to score White and Saint Louis is on the board. Mopas grounds to short. Yamamoto just broke off a nasty straight change. Ends the inning with his seventh strikeout.
Inning 6
Medeiros opens the sixth with his sixth strikeout but Ryder Kuhns with the hardest hit ball of the night, drilling a double over the head of Jujahashi in center. Brett Uchima in to run for Kuhns and steals third with the ball never leaving Medeiros’ hand. Medeiros comes back to strike out Yamamoto for second out. Stubblefield with a chopper short of third. Medeiros fields it instead of letting it go and Stubblefield beats it easily scoring Uchima. It’s 2-0 Saint Louis. Stubblefield swipes second two pitches later. White is hit by a pitch and Medeiros is starting to slow down as he’s high with the next pitch. Medeiros out of it after a grounder to second. Gotta imagine he’s done at 108 pitches.
Yamamoto is at 79 pitches as he starts the sixth. Wildcats work a couple of deep counts that result in two groundouts. Only three balls hit by Waiakea have reached the outfield. Make that four, barely, as Octavio pops to the second baseman who is three steps behind the infield when he makes the catch.
Inning 7
Medeiros is back out there. One-out walk to Romero but Medeiros manages to finish it out. 123 pitches total. If game ends, final line is 7IP-5H-2R-3BB-8K.
Yamamoto out for the seventh as he tries to finish off a two-hitter. 92 pitches through 6. Medeiros up first and Yamamoto throws four straight balls to bring tying run to plate. Freitas-Fields grounds out to third for first out. Yamamoto strikes out Minami on a nasty slider for his eighth of the game. Ninth strikeout and it’s over as Saint Louis wins 2-0. Final line 7IP-2H-0R-2BB-9k
Campbell vs. Kaiser
Kaiser’s Kamalu Vincent-Simeona faces off against Campbell right-hander Ian Kahaloa, who is considered one of the best junior pitchers in the state and has drawn serious interest from the University of Hawaii. Kahaloa struck out 16 in a nine-inning complete game against Kaiser two weeks ago that the Sabers won 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the OIA tournament.
Inning 1
Vincent-Simeona gives up a leadoff walk but Jobe Ibara is stranded on third. Kahaloa comes out and strikes out the first two Kaiser batters in seven pitches. Cougars down in order.
Inning 2
Campbell catcher Tryzen Patricio singles off the glove of Royce Narahara at third. After a fly out, Blayze Arcano-Liacuna hits a line drive single to left and Jake Mendoza pokes a ball through the hole on the right side of the infield to load the bases. Zachary Recolan rips a base hit to left to bring in the first Campbell run. Dewayne Sprinkel draws a two-out walk to force in a second run and Campbell leads 2-0. Kaiser gets its first base runner as Shawn Miyashiro draws a two-out walk, but that’s it against Kahaloa, who strikes out three.
Inning 3
Dorrien Hermosura hits a slow roller to third and beats it out for a base hit. After a bunt moves the runners over, Zachary Kapihe singles past third to put runners on the corners. Arcano-Liacuna hits a slow grounder to second to bring in a run as Kaiser can’t turn the double play. Sabers lead 3-0 midway through the third. Elima Haole starts the bottom of the frame with a sharp single back up the middle for the Cougars’ first hit. Kaiser gets solid contact on a couple of balls but nothing to show for it as Kahaloa is up to four K’s. He sat mid-80’s in the inning topping out at 87.
Inning 4
Fourth straight inning Campbell gets the leadoff guy on as Recolan singles. Recolan attempts to steal second and Ibara hits it right where the second baseman was before moving to cover second. Double play ball turns into a hit as Sabers have men on the corners with nobody out, forcing Kaiser to make a pitching change. Oda moves from first to pitch, Vincent-Simeona to third and Royce Nakahara goes to first. Ibara swipes second but Oda strikes out Sprinkel and gets Dirk Himan to pop out to shallow center. Sabers still get both runs as Hermosura delivers a clutch two-out, two-run single to make it 5-0. Sabers get two more hits as Kapihe singles inside the line at third to bring in Hermosura. A balk brings home the final run as Campbell leads 7-0. Meanwhile, another 1-2-3 innings for Kahaloa.
Inning 5
Shawn Miyashiro in to pitch for the Cougars and doesn’t fare much better. Issues a leadoff walk followed by three straight singles as Keola Himan drives in Recolan. Hermosura lines into a tough double play and Sprinkel is doubled off at second and looks like he may have hurt himself trying to plant to get back. He’s up after getting some attention from the training staff and jogs off. Kaiser out of the inning. Miyashiro gets Kaiser’s second hit but the Cougars hit into an inning-ending double play. Kahaloa through five innings in only 62 pitches.
Inning 6
Campbell adds a run on Arcano-Liacuna’s RBI single. Kaholoa is done. Final line 5 IP-2H-0R-1BB-5K. Chad Samante into the game for the bottom of the sixth and gets the first two outs. Kaiser loads the bases on a hit batter, walk and error but Bitanga grounds into a fielder’s choice to end it.
Inning 7
Himan’s second single gives Campbell 16 hits in the game but Vincent-Simeona turns a nice double play at second to end the inning. Kaiser up to bat looking for at least one run. Markus Ramos in to finish it off for Campbell and completes the shutout.
Campbell 9, Kaiser 0, Final. Sabers advance to play Saint Louis/Waiakea winner in the second semifinal on Thursday night.
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Kailua 2, Baldwin 0, Final
Beautiful, sunny, blue-sky morning here at Les Murakami Stadium. The flags are airborne out in right field, but overall trades are not what they were yesterday morning. Much warmer, hot day ahead.
Baldwin is the MIL champion with a 14-1 record. Noah Apolo has been a steady ace for the past three seasons. Kailua ousted Aiea yesterday, rallying with a three-run seventh inning for a 5-4 win.
Top 1st
BAL: Kailua has ace Royce Komesu on the mound after he was a scratch yesterday against Aiea due to a hamstring injury. He’s firing strikes so far. Komesu gets Lane Kashiwamura and Haloa Dudoit to ground out to second, and Isaiah Maddela whiffs on a check-swing third strike. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left on base. BAL 0, KAIL coming up to bat.
Bot 1st
KAIL: Apolo, a lefty, is on point with his curve ball. After Peter Kanoho leads off with a line-drive single to left, Brendan Odo grounds to first, Dalton Kalama strikes out chasing a curve and Lawson Faria grounds to first, ending the inning. No runs, one hit, no errors, one left on base. BAL 0, KAIL 0.
Top 2nd
BAL: Baldwin loads the bases and comes up empty. Makana Victorine and Noah Apolo start off with singles. Shadd Santos struck out on another Komesu breaking ball, but Joshua Nobriga walked to fill the sacks. Then Komesu struck out Nawai Ah-Yen on a curve, then got Skyelor Ishikawa looking at a fastball that tailed back over the outside corner for a third strike. No runs, two hits, no errors, three left on base. BAL 0, KAIL 0.
Note: Komesu struck out the side and now has four K’s, but he also threw 30 pitches in the second.
Bot 2nd
KAIL: Apolo retires Noah Auld on a grounder to third and Wade Lono on a pop-up to second. Jameson White singles to center and Dustin Imanaka reaches on an infield single, but Pilipo Kupahu, yesterday’s clutch hitter, grounds into a 4-6 fielder’s choice to end the threat. No runs, two hits, no errors, two left on base. BAL 0, KAIL 0.
Top 3rd
BAL: Kashiwamura grounds to second, Dudoit grounds to short, and Maddela’s sinking line drive to left is speared by LF Kupahu as he sprints in and toward the line for a diving catch. No runs, no hits, no errors, none left on base. BAL 0, KAIL 0.
Note: Much more efficient inning for Komesu. He didn’t strike anyone out in the third, but used just seven pitches.
Bot 3rd
KAIL: Trade winds have picked up nicely to 5-10 mph. Surfriders score twice to take the lead. Kanoho leads off with an infield single and Odo grounds to second, advancing Kanoho. Kalama grounds to second for the second out, advancing Kanoho to third. Then Faria doubles down the right-field line, scoring Kanoho. Auld singles to right, Faria holds up at third, but as Auld takes a wide turn at first and threatens to go to second, C Victorine overthrows second base, allowing Faria to score easily for a 2-0 lead. Lono follows with a single to left, but Auld is thrown out at home by LF Ishikawa. Two runs, four hits, one error, two left on base. KAIL 2, BAL 0.
Top 4th
BAL: After Victorine grounds out, Apolo and Santos walk. Nobriga’s line drive is right at CF Kanoho for the second out. Ah-Yen grounds out to shortstop to end the inning. No runs, no hits, no errors, two left on base. KAIL 2, BAL 0.
Bot 4th
KAIL: Apolo in a groove now after that rough third inning. White singles to center and advances to second on a sac bunt by Imanaka. But Kupahu and Kanoho strike out swinging. Kupahu (2-for-3, 3 RBIs yesterday) and Kanoho (2-for-2 in his first two PA today) striking out with a man in scoring position was a bit stunning. That quieted Kailua’s dugout. No runs, one hit, no errors, one left on base. KAIL 2, BAL 0.
Top 5th
BAL: Ishikawa led off with a single to right, but Kashiwamura lined out to center and Ishikawa got caught off the bag at first for a double play. Dudoit then struck out on a Komesu fastball. Now it’s the Baldwin dugout that is silent. Momentum changes. No runs, one hit, no errors, one left on base. KAIL 2, BAL 0.
Bot 5th
KAIL: Odo grounds to shortstop. Kalama singles the other way to left. Faria flies out to left for the second out. Kalama advances to third on a wild pitch and Auld reaches on a walk. Lono then strikes out on three pitches, chasing a breaking ball. No runs, one hit, no errors, two left on base. KAIL 2, BAL 0.
Note: That’s 92 pitches for Apolo, who has given up nine hits, but walked just one. He’s pitching well enough to keep the Bears in this game.
Top 6th
BAL: Another even-numbered inning and another scoring threat by the Bears comes up empty. Maddela got plunked to lead off and Victorine singled to left. Apolo’s sac bunt advanced both runners into scoring position, but Santos struck out and Nobriga flew out to left, ending the frame. No runs, one hit, no errors, two left on base. KAIL 2, BAL 0.
Bot 6th
KAIL: White grounds out to third. Imanaka’s bunt attempt is an easy play, 1-3. Kupahu caught looking, strikes out on three pitches. Apolo has his number today. No runs, no hits, no errors. KAIL 2, BAL 0.
Top 7th
Baldwin gets the tying run to second but fizzles out with a pair of flyouts. Kailua wins 2-0.
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