Here’s the rest of the story on Thursday’s great battle between No. 7 Kamehameha and No. 10 ‘Iolani at Goeas Field. It was a sterling effort by Warriors’ sophomore Li‘i Pontes in relief. Kamehameha improved to 4-2 in the brutally tough ILH, sending ‘Iolani to 2-4.
It was Pontes’ perseverance in the top of the seventh frame that was especially clutch. Everett Lau, who started on the mound (four runs, three strikeouts, no walks in 4 innings), was a tiger at the plate. He went 3-for-3 at the plate and socked one of his two doubles to lead off the seventh.
With the game tied at 4, Kaimana Bartolome moved Lau over to third with a grounder to second. But Pontes battled Devin Ide before getting snagging a hard come-back grounder for the second out. Then he struck out pinch hitter Cade Yonamine on a fastball to end the threat.
“He stayed calm after that double. He’s a good kid and a hard worker,” Perkins said. “He’s not afraid to get in it.”
Quinlan, a senior, was not noticeably stoked about the first four-hit performance of his varsity career.
“I’m pretty excited, but that’s not a big deal,” he said. “We have a game on Saturday against Maryknoll.
The Warriors scored on run in each of the first four innings. They took a 1-0 lead on Quinlan’s single to right, scoring Miyasato from second base.
In the second, Hee blasted a high fly ball beyond the 325-foot marker in left field to give Kamehameha a two-run lead.
The Raiders got on the figurative scoreboard — there is no actual scoreboard at Goeas Field — in the top of the second.
‘Iolani scored a run, but it came closed to being two. Shaydon Kubo singled and advanced to second base on a walk by Shane Sasaki. Matt Campos then singled to left and Kubo raced around third to home plate. The throw by the left fielder, Hee, was on the money, but the catcher, Revan Wong dropped the ball. Wong then scooped the ball up quickly and managed to tag Kubo,
who did not slide, for the second out. With Sasaki at third base and Campos on first, the Raiders executed a delayed steal on the next pitch.
Campos took off toward second base, drew the throw from Wong, and then eluded a tag attempt by the first baseman, Quinlan, on a 2-6-3 putout try. Sasaki scored easily on the play, cutting the lead to 2-1 as Perkins went to ask whether Campos had breached the restrictions of the base path.
Kamehameha responded with a run in the bottom of the third. Miyasato, the designated hitter, led off the bottom of the third with a double to right field. After moving to third base on a single by Quinlan, Miyasato came home on Hee’s sacrifice fly to left, and the Warriors led 3-1.
In the fourth, Micah McNicholl led off with a single and later scored on a two-out single to left by Quinlan, giving Kamehameha a 4-1 lead.
The Raiders rallied in the top of the fifth. Sasaki singled and Campos walked before Lau rocked a double off the fence in right center. Sasaki and Campos scored on the play, cutting the lead to 4-3.
Pinch hitter Zack Kon, a sophomore, later spanked a single to left, scoring Lau from third to tie the game at 4.
That set up the walk-off sacrifice bunt/error in the bottom of the seventh that gave Kamehameha a 5-4 win.
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