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GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kili Vierra of Kailua was greeted by teammate Zach Akamine (13) after Vierra hit a two-run homer to beat Moanalua. CLICK FOR LARGE

Kailua wins on homer in eighth

By Billy Hull
bhull@starbulletin.com

For the second year in a row, Moanalua ace Kekoa Lee gave up just one hit through seven innings without allowing an earned run in a showdown with Eastern division rival Kailua.

The only difference this time around was the game went into extra innings, and Kailua senior Kili Vierra wasn't going to let Lee dominate the Surfriders on their own field again.

Vierra blasted a game-winning two-run homer off of Lee in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the undefeated Surfriders a stunning 4-2 extra-inning victory over Moanalua yesterday in a showdown of two undefeated Oahu Interscholastic Association teams.

"I've been waiting for this game since preseason because I knew Kekoa was coming to town," Vierra said. "I just threw my hands into it and took a loose swing and didn't even know it was a home run when I hit it."

Lee tossed a one-hit shutout at Kailua last season in a Moanalua victory and seemed well on his way to doing it again. Na Menehune took advantage of two Kailua errors in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead, which seemed like more than enough support for Lee, who hadn't given up a hit.

The senior kept Kailua hitless until freshman Jared Iha led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a double to left field. On the very next play, Zach Akamine hit a ground ball to third, but Menehune third baseman Sheldon Mow threw the ball away, allowing Iha to score and Akamine to take third. Lee then struck out Vierra, but the ball got past catcher Chris Liu-Saguid, allowing the Surfriders to tie the score at 2 despite just the one hit.

"This is a much different team than last year," Kailua pitcher Preston Nakata said. "We're so much closer as a team and once we got it tied, I knew we had this."

Nakata gave up seven hits and no earned runs over eight innings, but walked the first batter in the top of the eighth, nearly forcing Kailua coach Corey Ishigo to make a change.

"We had our guy ready to go, but he wanted the ball bad enough to stay in the game," Ishigo said.

Nakata recorded two outs before hitting a batter, but got Ethan Isobe to ground into a fielder's choice with runners on first and second.

"My fastball away and curveball away were working for me and I knew I had this," Nakata said. "I was going to tell Coach, 'Don't take me out' if I had to."

That set the stage for Vierra's game-winning shot in the bottom of the inning. Akamine reached first on another error by Mow with one out and Vierra stepped to the plate trying to bunt the speedy Akamine into scoring position. After falling behind 0-2, Vierra was forced to swing away and connected with a shot that just dropped beyond the fence in right-center.

At Kailua H.S. field

Moanalua (3-1) 002 000 00 -- 2 7 2
Kailua (5-0) 000 002 02 -- 4 2 2
One out when winning run scored

Kekoa Lee and Chris Liu-Saguid. Preston Nakata and Rayner Yokoi. W--Nakata. L--Lee.

Leading hitters--Moan: Jordan Monico 2-4, 2b, run; Devin Nakama 2-4; Liu-Saguid 1-2, 2b. Kail: Kili Vierra 1-3, 2-run HR; Jared Iha 1-3, 2b, run.

ILH

Punahou 10, Pac-Five 1

Reece Kiriu went 2-for-2 with a double and triple as the Buffanblu routed the Wolf Pack.

At Ala Wai Field

Pac-Five (0-8) 000 100 0 -- 1 2 1
Punahou (7-0) 640 000 x -- 10 6 0
Ross Yamato, Ryan DeMello (1), Tyler Simao (4), Joey Maekawa (6) and Reid Morihara. Reece Kiriu, Reid Okita (4), Evan Yamamoto (5), Jeremy Fujimoto (6), Bryson Nakamura (7) and Zach Kometani, Travis Tanaka (7). W--Kiriu. L--Yamato.

Leading hitters--Pun: Kometani 2b, 2 RBIs; Jeeter Ishida 2-2, RBI; Kiriu 2-2, 2b, 3b, 4 RBIs.

OIA East

Castle 11, Kahuku 1, 6 inn.

Pulama Silva struck out six and didn't walk a batter in a one-hitter to lead the Knights over the Red Raiders.

At Castle H.S. field

Kahuku (1-4)
100 000 -- 1 1 3
Castle (3-0-1)
304 211 -- 11 8 2
Traviz Eugenio, Kevin Van Ness (3), Ikaika Sasaoka (5) and Sasaoka, Van Ness (5). Pulama Silva and Lyle Kitagawa. W--Silva. L--Eugenio.

Leading hitters--Cast: Kainoa Tom 2-4, 2b; Coby Agres 2-3, 2 RBIs; Kitagawa 2-2, RBI; Silva 3b, 3 RBIs.

McKinley 13, Kaimuki 3, 6 inn.

Roger Kramer went 3-for-3 and brought in three runners as the Tigers defeated the Bulldogs in six innings for their first league win.

At McKinley H.S. field

Kaimuki (0-5)
010 002 -- 3 3 3
McKinley (1-3)
531 113 -- 13 11 0
Masashi Kimura, Ian Delizo (2), Daren Muramoto (5) and Muramoto, Delizo (5). Roger Kramer, Chaz Leong (4) and Kelsen Daneku. W--Roger. L--Kimura.

Leading hitters--Kaim: Delizo 2-3, 2b. McK: Kramer 3-3, 2 RBIs; Tilton Kaluna 2-2, 3 RBIs; Daneku 2-2, 2 2bs, 2 RBIs; Jonathan Ho 2b.

Roosevelt 11, Kalaheo 4

Nick Wong led off the third inning with a solo home run, and later in the same frame smacked a grand slam to push the Rough Riders over the Mustangs.

At Stevenson Intermediate field

Kalaheo (0-5) 400 000 0 -- 4 5 2
Roosevelt (3-0-1) 00(10) 100 x -- 11 12 2

Talon Wemple, Donovan Correa (3), Kyle Okamura (3) and Cody vonAppen. Kelson Okimoto, Keoni Manago (6) and Tyler Nitahira. W--Okimoto. L--Wemple.

Leading hitters--Kalh: Richard Preza-Haynes 2-4; Alika Kaanapu 2-3, HR, 4 RBIs. Roos: Nick Wong 2-3, 2 HRs, 5 RBIs; Justin Otaguro 2-4, 2b, 2 runs; Nitahara 2-3; Casey Tanabe 2-4, 2b, 2 runs; Christian Awaya 3b, 2 runs.

Kalani 10, Farrington 0, 5 inn.

Five Falcons pitchers combined to hurl a no-hitter and Jake Massey knocked in two runs in Kalani's win over the Governors.

At Kahala Field

Farrington (0-4)
000 00 -- 0 0 1
Kalani (3-1)
114 22 -- 10 13 0
Diamond Pedro and Bryson Sagundo. Tyler Matsuda, Kenn Kamoto (2), Troy Kashiwabara (3), Wataru Noguchi (4), Micah Takahashi (5) and Jason Lee, Bryce Tomatani (4). W--Kamoto. L--Pedro.

Leading hitters--Kaln: Jake Massey 2-4, 2 RBIs; Chris Pieper 2-2, 2 RBIs; Keola Wakazuru 3b; Dillion Matsuda 2-3, 3b; Ridge Carpenter 2 runs, 3 SBs.

OIA WestAiea 5, Leilehua 0

Cody Aquino had eight strikeouts and had two hits, including a double, as Na Alii defeated the Mules.

At Fred Wright Park

Aiea (4-0) 310 000 1 -- 5 7 0
Leilehua (3-2) 000 000 0 -- 0 3 6
Cody Aquino and Anthony Tsui. Darren Baccay, Desmond Ontai (6) and Ehukai Woolley. W-Aquino. L--Baccay.

Leading hitters--Aiea: Aquino 2-4, 2b. Lei: Woolley 2b.

Campbell 17, Radford 0, 5 inn.

Cameron Howser hit two doubles and drove in four runs and Kia Kapana scored three runs in the Sabers' rout of the Rams.

At Campbell H.S. field

Radford (0-5) 000 00 --
0 2 2
Campbell (2-2) (11)51 0x --
17 16 1
Justin Lord, Nick Navarro (2) and Zach Seitz. Bryan Walsh, Kevin Newcomb (4) and Cameron Howser, Christian Marquez (3). W--Walsh. L--Lord.

Leading hitters--Camp: Kia Kapana 3-3, 3 runs, 3 RBIs; Sebastian Locquiao 3-3, 2 2bs, 3 runs, 2 RBIs; Howser 3-3, 2 2bs, 4 RBIs, 2 runs; Bronson Ellis-Rivera 3b, 2 RBIs; Mike Miller-Raymond 2-2, 2b, 2 runs. Everett Pico 2-2, 3 runs.

Waianae 24, Nanakuli 0, 5 inn.

Aina Kalaola-Myer and Dean Tabangcura went a combined 5-for-6 with four RBIs in the Seariders' rout of the Golden Hawks.

At Waianae H.S. field

Nanakuli (0-5)
000 00 -- 0 0 3
Waianae (3-1)
550 (14)x -- 24 15 1
Lalo Respicio and Isiah Tanaka. Ben McQuown, Brandon Keomalu (4), Matt Bossen (5) and Nalu Haohio, RJ Tacgere-Bailey (4). W--McQouwn. L--Respicio.

Leading hitters--Wain: Aina Kalaola-Myer 3-4, 2b, 2 RBIs; Dean Tabangcura 2-2, 3b, 2 RBIs.

Kapolei 11, Waipahu 2

Kalani Omoto had 10 strikeouts and one walk as the Hurricanes routed the Marauders.

Michael Kahalehoe had four hits, including two doubles, for Kapolei.

At Waipahu H.S. field

Kapolei (3-2) 100 125 2 -- 11 13 2
Waipahu (0-5) 000 010 1 -- 2 8 3
Kalani Omoto and Oliver Taoy. Eric Hudson, Jensen Rios (4), Kaimi Haina (6) and Haina, Samuel Chee (6). W--Omoto. L--Hudson.

Leading hitters--Kapo: Aaron Santiago 2-5, 3b, RBI; Michael Kahalehoe 4-5, 2 2bs, 3 RBIs. Waip: Jaris Komuro-Rosete 2-4, 3b, RBI; Davin Sakamoto 2-3, 2b; Haina 3b, RBI.

Mililani 12, Waialua 1, 5 inn.

Joey Aquino went 3-for-3, with a double and a triple as the Trojans remained undefeated.

At Mililani H.S. field

Waialua (1-3)
010 00 -- 1 1 4
Mililani (5-0)
062 4x -- 12 18 0
Bryce Whittaker, Arthur Hernandez (4) and Kekoa Ford-Parrish. Dustin Antolin, Ian Lee (5), Richie Mariano and Kellen Miyasato. W--Antolin. L--Whittaker.

Leading hitters--Wail: Reggie Carillo 3b. Mil: Adam Schroeder 2-3, Jay Yoshizawa 2 RBI; Travis Jones 2-3, 2 2bs; Jose Cruz 2-3, Chad Aoki 3b; Joey Aquino 3-3, 2b, 3b; Antolin 2-3, 2b, 2 RBIs.



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