By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Campbell's James Rabaino was tagged out at second base
by McKinley's Zachary Lui in the seventh inning yesterday.
Yamashita pitches
By Pat Bigold
Pearl City past Castle
Star-BulletinSean Yamashita struck out 14, walked no one and scattered five hits as Pearl City edged Castle, 2-1, last night in a rain-soaked Oahu Interscholastic Association opening-round playoff baseball game at Aloha Stadium.
The victory advanced the Chargers (8-3) to today's 5:30 p.m. encounter with Eastern Division top seed Roosevelt (7-2).
In other games today, defending OIA champion Mililani (8-2) was to face Kaiser (7-3) in a morning game, Waianae (9-2) was to meet Kalani (7-2) at 12:30 p.m., and McKinley (7-3) was to play Western Division top seed Aiea (9-1) at 3 p.m at Aloha Stadium.
Kevin Solchenburger led Pearl City offensively, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and a single.
The Chargers trailed, 1-0, going into the bottom of the sixth inning. But Solchenburger hit a one-out double and Jonathan Fukumoto drove him in on a 365-foot triple to right to tie it, 1-1.
That hit chased losing pitcher Chuco Colunga, who was replaced by Alika Shores.
Shores walked Brandon Hookala, who was lifted for pinch runner Ricky Oandasan.
With two outs and pinch-hitter Troy Yoshida at the plate, Oandasan was caught off first base on a pickoff throw from Shores. While the Knights (6-4) were occupied with Oandasan in a rundown, pinch-runner Chad Smith snuck home from third with the winning run.
"Sean is 4-3 now but his record is really deceiving because all of his losses were in one-run games," said Castle head coach Mel Seki.
Yamashita set the tone early. In the first inning, he had runners at second and third with no outs. He uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Castle's run to score, but then struck out the side.
"When you look at it, that was the key inning of the game for Castle," said Seki.
Yamashita relied on his fastball to finish off batters, using his curve as a setup pitch.
Castle 100 000 0--1 5 0 Pearl City 000 002 x--2 6 0WP--Sean YamashitaLeading hitters--Castle: Kalei Kanaeholo 2-3. Pearl City: Kevin Solchenburger 3-3.
Kaiser 1, Waipahu 0: At Aloha Stadium, Jason Reeve struck out nine, walked one and held the Marauders (4-7) to three hits.
Kaiser scored its only run in the second inning without the benefit of a hit. Leadoff batter Kaulana Kaapana was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a groundout. He then reached third on a passed ball and scored on another passed ball.
Waipahu loaded the bases with one out in the seventh and final inning but Kaiser called a pitchout on a squeeze play by the Marauders and tagged the runner out at home. A fly ball to center field ended the game.
Jerome Williams struck out four in a two-hit, six-inning stint for Waipahu.
Waipahu 000 000 0--0 3 0 Kaiser 010 000 x--1 2 1WP--Jason Reeve.
Sarono got the win by pitching his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning.
Tavares squeezed in Kuhaulua in the fourth inning, and doubled him in from third base in the sixth.
Kalaheo 001 000 0--1 4 1 Waianae 000 101 x--2 5 1WP--Phillip SaronoLeading hitters--Wai: Kaulana Kuhaulua 2-3, Bobby Tavares 2B. Kal: Shawn Withy-Allen 2-3
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
A hit by Campbell's Joey Johnson got by McKinley's Grant
Ledesma in the top of the seventh, despite the horizontal effort.
Zach Lui doubled in Takenaka and Darren Won in the bottom of the first inning to give McKinley a 2-1 lead.
Campbell 110 000 0--2 6 3 McKinley 201 100 x--5 7 1WP--Wade TakenakaLeading hitters--Camp: Sabino Aguinaldo 2-4; Keoni Kapana 2-3. McKinley: Takenaka 2-3; Darren Won 2-3; Zach Lui 2B, 2 RBIs.
Kalaheo girls favored
Star-Bulletin staffUnbeaten Kalaheo, which has easily won every game it's played this year, is the clear favorite going into the Oahu Interscholastic Association girls' basketball playoffs.
The playoffs open today with four games and the Mustangs (9-0 in the Eastern Division) receive a bye until Saturday.
Three-time defending league champion McKinley (6-3) takes on Moanalua (6-4) at 5:45 p.m. today at Pearl City. The Chargers (7-3) will face Castle (4-5) at 7:15 p.m.
At Roosevelt, Campbell (7-3) will play Farrington (4-5) at 5:45 p.m., and Roosevelt will meet Radford (6-4) at 7:15 p.m.
Kalaheo, 22-0 including preseason games, is led by returning all-stars Kim Taylor and Steph Redman.
The Mustangs are scheduled to play in Saturday's quarterfinals against the winner of the Farrington-Campbell game.
Nanakuli (8-2) is the Western Division's top seed. The Golden Hawks will face the winner of the McKinley-Moanalua game on Saturday.
The other teams with byes are the East's No. 2 seed, Kahuku (8-1), and the West's No. 2 seed, Waipahu (8-2).
Winners of Saturday's games will automatically earn berths in the state tournament, scheduled for May 19-22 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Last year, McKinley defeated Kalaheo, 44-35, in the OIA championship game at the Blaisdell Arena. The title game -- one week from tomorrow -- will once again be held at the Blaisdell.
