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Thursday, April 6, 2000
Leilehua remains
By Brandon Lee
unbeaten by
battering Trojans
Special to the Star-BulletinEarly in a season, rankings don't carry as much weight as they do deeper into the schedule. Inevitably, some teams do not live up to expectations, while others surpass them.
In the Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division, the Leilehua baseball team appears to be exceeding expectations, while Mililani might not be as good as previously thought.
The Mules, ranked No. 10 in the HawaiiSportsNetwork.com coaches and media poll, dominated the Trojans, ranked No. 5, defeating them 15-5 yesterday at damp Fred Wright Park. The game was called after 4 1/2 innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.
The victory left the Mules (4-0) alone atop the division standings, while the Trojans (3-1) dropped a game behind.
The Trojans jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Mules' starter Josh Jones gave up two walks to begin the game, and Trojans' first baseman Tyler Aoki drove the lead runner home by lacing a double down the third- base line. The second run came across on a fielder's choice.
The Mules countered with six runs in the bottom of the first, all with two outs, by capitalizing on some wildness by Trojan starter Gainor Nitta, and a critical error by Aoki. It was a lead the Mules would not relinquish as they put Nitta out of the game after only two-thirds of an inning.
The Mules delivered the knockout blow in the bottom of the fourth by scoring eight runs, again aided by wild pitching and sloppy play by the Trojans. Mililani committed four errors compared with Leilehua's one. The lead ballooned to 15-5 as a result, and the Trojans were unable to score a single run in the top of the fifth inning, ending the game.
"They gave us a few errors and we were able to capitalize on them," Mules coach Garrett Yukumoto said. "The boys played with intensity and that carried our team."
Despite control problems and lacking his best stuff, Jones picked up the victory. He pitched four innings, gave up two earned runs on three hits, struck out two, and walked six.
"My slider wasn't working today, but I tried my best to hit my spots," said Jones. "I tried to let my defense help me."
Gainor Nitta, Ryan Nakachi (1), Jourdan Kaneshiro (4) and Kurt Miyahira; Josh Jones, Cheyne Todani (5) and Jay Baptista W--Jones. L--Nitta.
Mililani 210 20-- 5 3 4 Leilehua 610 8x--15 10 1 Leading hitters--Mil: Derek Costigan, 3b, RBI. Leil: Matt Omalza, 2-3, 2 RBIs; Brandon Taylor, 2-3, RBI; Josh Jones, 2-3, 2b; Jay Baptista, 2b; Cheyne Todani, 2b, RBI.
WAIANAE 11, NANAKULI 0: Kelii Lopes pitched a five-inning one-hitter as the visiting Seariders (3-1) routed the Golden Hawks (0-3).
Alvin Sabagala rapped two hits for Waianae, including a triple.
Waianae 203 24--11 6 0 Nanakuli 000 00-- 0 1 1 Kelii Lopes and Alvin Sabagala. Maka Vickers, Junius Wong (4) and Liko Glushenko. W--Lopes. L--Vickers.
Leading hitters--Waianae: Alvin Sabagala 2-3, 3b; Shannon Tellis 3b; Kelii Lopes 3b.
PEARL CITY 8, RADFORD 4: Gavin Concepcion blasted a grand slam in the first inning to lead the visiting Chargers (2-2) to victory against the Rams (1-3).
Kaipo Aragosa pitched four innings to earn the win.
Jacob Sur took the mound in the second inning for the Rams, and held the Chargers scoreless the rest of the way. He also hit a solo home run.
Pearl City 440 000 0--8 7 2 Radford 100 210 0--4 9 4 Kaipo Aragosa, Cory Fujinaga (5) and Gavin Concepcion. David Street, Tim Dejough (1), Jacob Sur (2) and Richard Killen. W--Aragosa. L--Street.
Leading hitters--Pearl City: Kelan Morisawa 2-4, RBI; Gavin Concepcion HR, 4 RBIs; Blaine Kagamida 2b, 2 RBIs. Radford: Josiah Huelle 3-4, 2b; Daniel Arcilla 2-4; Jacob Sur HR, RBI.
MOANALUA 6, WAIPAHU 1: Jon Tanibe pitched a two-hitter to lead the host Menehunes (2-2) to victory against the Marauders (1-3).
Tanibe struck out 10 and walked three. He allowed just one run, in the seventh inning.
Jordan Yanaga rapped two hits and knocked in two runs, and Bucky Nakachi ripped a two-run double in the fifth inning.
Waipahu000 000 1--1 2 2 Moanalua002 130 0--6 12 1 Mike Menor and Jannsen Rivera; Jon Tanibe and Bret Sugiyama. W--Tanibe. L--Menor.
Leading hitters--Moanalua: Jim Strombach 2-3, 2b, RBI; Jordan Yanaga 2-3, 2 RBI; Bucky Nakuchi 2b, 2 RBI; Stephen Green 2-3, RBI.
AIEA 8, WAIALUA 0: Three Na Alii pitchers combined to throw a shutout against the Bulldogs (0-3).
Kevin Oishi earned the win, giving up just two hits in his four innings of work.
Michael Valenzuela paced Aiea (3-0) with a three-run double in the fifth inning.
Aiea 102 050 0--8 6 1 Waialua 000 000 0--0 3 4 Kevin Oishi, Reid Kubota (5), Chase Wakamura (7) and Michael Yoshida. Calvin Kawai and Keoni Peiler. W--Oishi. L--Kawai.
Leading hitters--Aiea: Michael Valenzuela 2b, 3 RBI.
KALAHEO 10, MCKINLEY 2: Ikaika Hollinger allowed one hit over six innings to lead the Mustangs (1-0) past the host Tigers (1-1).
Mike Garcia drove in two runs with three hits, and Hollinger helped himself with a three-run double.
Kalaheo 310 006 0--10 10 0 McKinley 000 011 0-- 2 8 3 Ikaika Hollinger, Chris Rego (7) and Mike Garcia. Jordan Kurahara, Reid Koto (6) and George Bautista. W--Hollinger. L--Kurahara.
Leading hitters--Kalaheo: Mike Garcia, 3-4, 2 RBIs; Ikaika Hollinger, 2b, 3 RBIs. McKinley: Arthur Rosa, 2-3, 3b; Todd Miyasato, 2b; Georga Bautista, 2-3.
KAILUA 12, FARRINGTON 2: Jory Pearce hit a homer and drove in three runs as the Surfriders (2-0) routed the Governors (0-2) at DeSa Field.
Kailua has outscored its first two opponents, 28-4.
Kailua 000 412 5--12 9 1 Farrington 000 002 0-- 2 4 5 Ryan Exstrom, Derek Yonamine (6), Justin Akagi (7) and Lopaka Burgess. Crispon Barba, Dennis Rodrigues (6), Michael Rabago (7) and Shaun Tabil. W--Exstrom. L--Barba.
Leading hitters--Kailua: Travis Teshima, 2-3; Rodney Choy Foo, 2-3; Jory Perce, HR, 3 RBIs. Farrington: Bronson Chun, 2-3; Shaun Tabil, 2-2.
CASTLE 11, KAIMUKI 1: Paul Collins threw a two-hitter and knocked in three runs as the Knights (2-0) routed the visiting Bulldogs (0-1).
Collins struck out four and walked one, and gave up just two singles.
Bobby Namba highlighted a four-run first inning with a two-run triple.
Kaimuki 000 10-- 1 2 1 Castle 430 31--11 12 1 Reid Yoshikawa, Rex Young (3) and Leland Ohelo. Paul Collins and Russell Kimura, Dennis Pagdilao (5). W--Collins (1-0). L--Yoshikawa (0-1).
Leading hitters--Castle: Zach Wong 2-4, RBI; Jordan Tom 2-3; Paul Collins 2-2, 3b, 3 RBI; Bobby Namba 2-3, 3 RBI.
Junior varsity (Tuesday's results): Castle 12, Kaimuki 6
KAISER 9, ROOSEVELT 8: At Kaiser, Jason Peters' bases-loaded single capped a three-run rally in the sixth inning that carried the Cougars (1-1) past the Rough Riders (1-1).
Kaiser fell behind, 6-1, before scoring five runs in the fourth, three of them on David Chu's bases-loaded triple.
Ryan Tanaka had a double and three RBIs for Roosevelt.
Roosevelt 040 220 0--8 10 4 Kaiser 100 503 x--9 8 1 Chad Kapanui, Jason Yasuda (4), Chris Mols (5), Allen Imamura (6) and Blaine Souza; Nathan Ota, Chris Gallego (5), Jason Peters (5) and John Kugisaki.. W--Peters. L--Mols.
Leading hitters--Roosevelt: Ryan Tanaka, 2b, 3 RBIs; Blaine Souza, 2b, 2 RBIs. Kaiser: David Chu, 3b, 3 RBIs; Daniel Heu, 2-3; Eric Ching, 2-2, 2 RBIs.
KALANI at KAHUKU postponed: The game between the Falcons and Red Raiders will be played today at 4 p.m.
