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Trojans keep Mililani pitcher Christopher Balatico's streak of scoreless innings was snapped yesterday, but the left-hander refused to let the Trojans' season slip away as well.
Menehunes in check
Balatico gives up his first run
but has enough to lead MililaniBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comBalatico tossed a complete game, drove in the winning run and made the key defensive play of the game as Mililani defeated Moanalua 3-2 in the first round of the Oahu Interscholastic Association baseball tournament.
Balatico hadn't surrendered a run in his five starts this season before Moanalua's Geoffrey Say scored on an infield single in the third inning. But the junior settled down to lead the Trojans into today's quarterfinals.
"I saw it in his face that he wasn't too happy about giving up that run," Mililani coach Cary Kihara said. "But I know he's a competitor and he kept battling. ... He just wants to be out there and he wants to make plays."
Mililani (8-2) travels to Kahuku today to face the Red Raiders in a quarterfinal game at 4 p.m. The winner moves on to tomorrow's semifinals and earns a spot in next week's state tournament.
Balatico struck out five Moanalua batters in a 103-pitch performance. He fell behind in the count frequently, but was able to keep the Menehunes off balance by mixing speeds effectively.
"I was throwing strikes and they were hitting the strikes so I had to rely on the defense," Balatico said. "I had to groove a couple of pitches and they hit it right to somebody. The ball rolls that way sometimes."
Balatico helped his cause with a run-scoring triple in the fifth inning and by starting an unconventional double play in the sixth.
Moanalua took a 1-0 lead in the third when Say scored from second on Brett Tanigawa's grounder up the middle. Tanigawa beat the throw to first while Say blazed around third and scored only the eighth run given up by Mililani this season.
Mililani answered in the bottom of the inning as Whitney Shimatsu reached first on an error and scored on Gainor Nitta's double to left-center. Nitta scored the go-ahead run on Trey Brown's sacrifice fly.
Balatico padded the Trojans' lead in the fifth with a triple to the right-center field gap to score Nitta.
"Bala's been struggling with the bat, so we tried to tell him at practice this week that, 'Hitting's the fun part for you. Come out and pitch your game and hitting's a plus,' " Kihara said. "I think that made him feel a little bit less nervous and he was swinging real good today."
Moanalua rallied in the sixth inning, putting runners on first and third with nobody out. Ric Fukushima then laid down a squeeze bunt along the first-base line -- allowing James Strombach to score -- and reached first with an infield single. A Mililani error on Scott Batula's bunt loaded the bases.
After a strikeout, Moanalua tried to squeeze home the tying run, but Glenn Taijeron's bunt hung in the air long enough for Balatico to make a diving catch. Moanalua's Neal Manutai had already crossed the plate when Balatico got to his feet and flipped the ball to Adam Inaba at third to complete the inning-ending double play.
Balatico held off the Menehunes in the seventh to earn his sixth win. Moanalua starter Kyle Nakamichi nearly matched Balatico's effort, but took the loss.
"We played well enough to win," Moanalua coach Scott Yamada said. "Both sides were battling, too bad we ended up on the short end. But give Mililani credit, they battled back to win."
The Trojans have little time to celebrate the win as they make the trek to Kahuku this afternoon.
"That's the fun part of the OIA, we play four days in a row," Kihara said. "You can't win the OIA if you can't handle the tough schedule. You have to be mentally and physically in condition."
At Mililani H.S. field
Moanalua (6-5) 001 001 0 -- 2 7 1 Mililani (8-2) 002 010 x -- 3 4 2 Kyle Nakamichi, Neal Manutai (6) and Brett Tanigawa. Christopher Balatico and Shawn Saito. W--Balatico. L--Nakamichi.
Leading hitters -- Moanalua: Manutai 2-2; Ric Fukushima 2-3, RBI. Mililani: Gainor Nitta 2-3, 2b, RBI; Balatico 2-3, 3b, RBI; Saito 2b.
Waipahu 3, Kalaheo 2: The Marauders, the only team in the tournament with a losing record, used two bases-loaded walks in the fifth inning to upset the Mustangs.
After Kalaheo took a 2-1 lead in the fourth, Ty Takahashi and Clifton Gumban scored the tying and winning runs in the fifth for Waipahu. Jaryd Kiyabu earned the complete-game win for the Marauders.
Waipahu advances to face Aiea today.
At Kailua Recreation Center field
Waipahu (4-6) 010 020 0 -- 3 7 2 Kalaheo (7-4) 100 100 0 -- 2 8 3 Jaryd Kiyabu and John Fauatea. Nick Sargent, Scott Galusha (5) and Jacob Myking. W--Kiyabu. L--Sargent.
Leading hitters -- Waipahu: Jerome Kon 2-4; Ross Garabiles 2-2. Kalaheo: Sargent 2-3; Justin Anderson 2-3; Chris Kojima 2b.
Castle 6, Pearl City 5: The Knights scored three runs in the top of the seventh and held off a Charger rally in the bottom of the inning to advance to the quarterfinals.
Noah Kon's two-run single helped Castle take a 6-3 lead in the seventh. Pearl City battled back on RBI singles by Jonathan Serapion and Brandon Yamamoto. But Castle shortstop Jordan Tom got the final out on Scott Yasumoto's grounder.
Castle faces Roosevelt at Stevenson Intermediate today.
At Pearl City H.S. field
Castle (7-4) 000 120 3 -- 6 7 2 Pearl City (6-4) 100 200 2 -- 5 7 3 Noah Kon, Darin Hamada (5) and Jason Taniguchi; Jonathan Serapion and Kellen Concepcion. W--Hamada. L--Serapion.
Leading hitters--Castle: N. Kon, 2-4, 2 RBIs; Scott Shinsato, 2b, 2 RBIs. Pearl City: Chad Itokazu, 2-4; Nolan Kugiya, 2b, 2 RBIs; Rex Yamaguchi, 2b.
Kailua 13, Campbell 0: Kamaile Santos hit three doubles and drove in three runs to lead the Surfriders' 14-hit attack against the Sabers.
Kailua exploded for nine runs in the third inning. The game was shortened to five innings due to the 10-run rule.
Kailua travels to Waianae to face the Seariders today.
At Kailua H.S. field
Five innings, 10-run rule
Campbell (6-4) 000 00 -- 0 3 1 Kailua (8-3) 129 1x -- 13 14 0 Tristan Bailey, Chaunsey Basilio (3), Brandon Tanigawa (3), Bill Tennent (3) and Jacob Cadelina. Duff Santos, Jason Moore (5) and Chad Nishizuka. W--Santos. L--Bailey.
Leading hitters -- Campbell: Alii Basham 2b. Kailua: Taleki Mailau 2-4, Cody Texeira-Vickery 2-3; Santos 4-4, 3 2b, 3 RBIs; Bronson Ho 2b; Shaun Sasaki 2-2, 2b; Michael Kealoha 2-2, 2 RBIs; Nishizuka 2b, 2 RBIs.
Girls Basketball
Iolani 54, Sacred Hearts 51: Trisha Nishimoto scored 14 points in the second half as the Raiders rallied to beat the Lancers in the semifinals of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu third-place tournament at McCabe Gym.Sacred Hearts led 36-24 early in the third quarter. But Nishimoto scored nine straight points as the Raiders went on a 17-4 run to take a 41-40 lead late in the period.
The Lancers answered in the fourth quarter to take a 47-41 lead, but the Raiders outscored the Lancers 13-4 to end the game.
At McCabe Gym
Sacred Hearts (7-9) 15 14 12 10 -- 51 Iolani (8-7) 11 10 20 13 -- 54 SACRED HEARTS--Cherie Kinoshita 2, Brittney Aiwohi 17, Nicole Lehner 8, Shalei Soueira 2, Colbey Aiwohi 8, Lani Faumuina 5, Nicole Raiola 9.
IOLANI--Trisha Nishimoto 14, Jennifer Nagamine 8, Raeceen Woolford 5, Jackie Sasaki 0, Lana Young 6, Ginger Gravelle 18, Fabriann Gin 3, Kiani Wong 0, Keri Oyadomari 0, Patricia Wong 0, Diana McClain 0, Chelsea Wong 0.
3-point goals--Sacred Hearts 2 (B. Aiwohi 1, C. Aiwohi 1); Iolani 6 (Nishimoto 4, Nagamine 2).
Maryknoll 59, University 43: Michelle Baduria scored 10 of her game-high 15 points in the first half to lead the Spartans past the Junior 'Bows.
Shannon Riley and Cheryl Lee each added 11 points for Maryknoll. Leahi Frias scored 11 points to lead UHS.
At McCabe Gym
University (5-10) 11 8 14 10 -- 43 Maryknoll (11-4) 15 17 18 9 -- 59 UNIVERSITY--Iwa Yamaguchi 0, Diane Okubo 9, Ashley deGuzman 0, Brittany Anderson 2, Kamaile Durett 9, Leahi Frias 11, Kylie Lum 0, Karlee Kailehu 10, Cara Pang 2.
MARYKNOLL--Pauline Chan 0, Diana Samson 3, Shannon Riley 11, Michelle Baduria 15, Whitney Wong 2, Janna Castillo 0, Jessica Ho 0, Stacey Doran 7, Melanie Tang 0, Cheryl Lee 11, Sela Fisilau 10.
3-point goals--University 2 (Okubo 2); Maryknoll 3 (Samson 1, Baduria 2).
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