HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Castle's Kainoa Tom stole home to score the winning run against Waianae yesterday.
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Tom steals home for Castle win
Kainoa Tom stole home with two outs in the bottom of the seventh as Castle rallied for a stunning 2-1 win over Waianae yesterday in the quarterfinals of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red playoffs.
The Knights clinched a state-tourney berth with the win thanks to ace Pulama Silva and a gutsy call for a suicide squeeze with Tom on third base and Coby Agres at the plate.
"We never called it all season, but when you've got a guy like Kainoa on base, anything's possible," said co-head coach Chad Uyehara, who also noted the superlative effort of Waianae's Ben McQuown.
"Ben pitched a tough game. Sometimes you gotta take chances," Uyehara added.
Silva scattered five hits, struck out three and walked two in his first appearance since March 29.
With the game tied at 1 in the bottom of the seventh, Keola Jarrett singled to center and Micah Koki laid down a sacrifice bunt. Waianae third baseman Joe Fredricks threw Koki out at first, but with nobody to cover at third, Jarrett hustled around second and beat the throw.
After the Seariders issued intentional walks to Tom and Kaliko Cayetano-Tamashiro to load the bases, Joshua Serano grounded into a force play at home.
On the next pitch, with Agres at the plate, Tom inched off third base and went into a sprint. Agres squared up to bunt, but McQuown's pitch was in the dirt. By the time catcher R.J. Tacgere-Bailey caught the pitch on one bounce and tried to tag Tom, the speedster had his foot across the plate on a slide for the winning run.
Despite tossing a three-hitter, McQuown regretted the final pitch.
"I should've pitched from the stretch. I don't know what I was thinking," the senior said.
Tom noticed the difference.
"I was surprised since he was in the stretch earlier in the game," he said.
Waianae coach Kekoa Kaluhiokalani was stunned.
"Two outs, first pitch, never in my wildest dreams did I imagine they would do it," he said.
Waianae, which stranded eight runners, scored its lone run in the top of the second when Hensley socked the first of his two doubles and came home on a sacrifice fly to center by Manuel.
In the fifth, the host Knights got their first hit, a single by Tom, who promptly stole second. He came home on a single to center by Cayetano-Tamashiro as Castle tied the game at 1.
Castle will face the West's top seed, Pearl City, in a semifinal tonight at Patsy Mink Central Oahu Regional Park. Waianae is still alive in the hunt for a state-tournament berth and will host Roosevelt this afternoon.
Waianae (8-6) |
010 |
000 |
0 |
-- |
1 |
5 |
0 |
Castle (9-4) |
000 |
010 |
1 |
-- |
2 |
3 |
0 |
Ben McQuown and R.J. Tacgere-Bailey. Pulama Silva and Coby Agres. W--Silva. L--McQuown.
Leading hitters--Waianae: Tacgere-Bailey 2-3, 2b; Kalei Hensley 2-3, 2 2b, run. Castle: Kainoa Tom 1-2, 2 runs.
Pearl City 10, Roosevelt 0
Sparked by an RBI double and a Carlton Tanabe three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning, the Chargers shut out the Rough Riders at home to advance to the OIA Red semifinals.
Pearl City closed it out with a five-run fifth, which included Bryson Namba's two-run home run and a Ryan Acosta triple.
Roosevelt (7-7) |
|
000 |
00 |
-- |
0 |
3 |
3 |
Pearl City (11-2) |
|
400 |
15 |
-- |
10 |
9 |
0 |
Billy Kamau, Rylen Ikehara (5) and Tyler Nitahara. Bryson Nakamura and Carlton Tanabe. W--Nakamura. L--Kamau.
Leading hitters--Roosevelt: TJ Bae 2-2; Justin Otaguro 1-2. Pearl City: Nakamura 1-2, RBI, 2b; Bryson Namba 1-2, 2-run HR; Tanabe 3-3, 3 RBIs, 3-run HR; Ryno Acosta 1-3, 2 RBIs, 3b; Bully Casarez 1-2, RBI.
Kailua 10, Campbell 3
Catcher Keenan Tanaka went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs and Bronson Ellis hit a homer to lead Kailua into the semifinals.
Campbell (8-6) |
201 |
000 |
0 |
-- |
3 |
9 |
5 |
Kailua (11-2) |
102 |
016 |
x |
-- |
10 |
13 |
4 |
Allyn Oliva Respicio, Keanur Kapana (6), Kena Benz (6) and Kapana, Cameron Howser (6). Reyn Matsuki, Bryson Gauthe (5), Alika Ramseyer-Ho (6) and Keenan Tanaka. W--Gauthe. L--Oliva Respicio.
Leading hitters--Campbell: Kia Kapana 3-4; Bronson Ellis 2-4, HR, 2 RBIs; Christian Marquez 2-4, 2b. Kailua: Kale Sumner 2-3, 2 2b, 2 RBIs; Scotty Talasea 2-4, RBI; Tanaka 3-4, 2 2b, 2 RBIs.
Aiea 4, Kaiser 2
No details reported.
OIA White SoftballWaianae 13, McKinley 3
Tanisa Aniya picked up the win and had two hits at the plate for the Seariders.
Waianae (10-1) |
004 |
141 |
3 |
-- |
13 |
11 |
0 |
McKinley (4-7) |
000 |
210 |
0 |
-- |
3 |
3 |
4 |
Tanisha Aniya and Chaelyn Manuel. Rachel Ragus and Trudy Hong. W--Aniya. L--Ragus.
Leading hitters--Waianae: Alexandria Soriano 3-4, HR; Aniya 2-3; Rylen Hoapili 2-2, HR. McKinley: none.