Thursday, March 29, 2001
Castle and Kaiser added a new twist to their prep baseball rivalry yesterday by playing to a 7-7 tie at Kaiser Field. Kaiser rallies in
7th to tie CastleBy Jason Kaneshiro
Star-BulletinThe umpires called the game due to darkness after Kaiser rallied for five runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game. The result makes Castle's record 2-0-1 in the OIA East, while Kaiser stands at 1-0-1.
"You gotta say it's better to get out of here with a tie rather than a loss," said Castle coach Joe Tom Jr.
In a game of unusual twists, perhaps the strangest was a 10-minute sun delay in the top of the seventh inning. The game was stopped when the angle of the sun -- setting behind an apartment complex beyond centerfield -- made it difficult for the batters, catcher and home plate umpire to track the pitches.
The Castle batters saw the ball well enough before the delay to score a pair of runs in both the sixth and seventh innings. The Knights' runs in the sixth inning came without the benefit of a hit, as a Kaiser error and two hit batsmen fueled the rally. In the seventh, two pitches before the sun delay, Casey Daniel stroked a double to center field to drive in a pair of runs and give Castle a 7-2 lead going into the final frame.
While the delay sapped the momentum from the Knights' rally, it allowed the Kaiser players to refocus entering their final at-bat.
"I think the key was that little sun delay. It got us thinking and got our thoughts back together," said Kaiser senior Nathan Ota.
The Cougars' comeback was aided by four Castle errors in the inning. After throwing errors put Kaiser runners on second and third with one out, a fielding error on Castle shortstop Jordan Tom allowed Eric Ching to score. A single by John Uehara drove in BJ Bernard with another run to close the gap to 7-4.
After Castle reliever Noah Kon walked Ian Matsuda to load the bases, Nathan Ota hit an infield single to drive in Jason Peters. Tom's throw to first on the play was wild, allowing Uehara to score and moving Matsuda to third. Rylen Yamamoto's sacrifice fly to deep centerfield scored Matsuda with the tying run. David Chu flied out to right to end the inning.
As Kaiser prepared to take the field for the eighth, the umpires decided it was too dark to continue the game.
"It showed good character by our team," Ota said of the rally. "But I think if we had played that extra inning we might have been able to pull it out, because we had momentum going."
After the game, Kaiser coach Duke Chinen praised the Castle coaches for not trying to use the diminishing daylight in Hawaii Kai to their advantage.
"If they wanted to they could have stalled time and they would have walked away with the win," he said. "But I like that style. They weren't going to take the win because the sun was going down."
Castle (2-0-1) 210 002 2 -- 7 7 6 Kaiser (1-0-1) 200 000 5 -- 7 8 2 Kurt Okumura, Noah Kon (7) and Jason Taniguchi; Todd Nishihara, Jason Peters (6) and Chris Gallego.
Leading hitters: Castle -- Taniguchi 2-4; Casey Daniel 2-2, 2B, 2 RBI; Kaiser -- Nathan Ota 2-3, RBI; Eric Ching 2-4; John Uehara 2-4, RBI.
Kahuku 20, Kalani 5:
Jeremiah Bohnet drove in five runs and the Red Raiders pounded out 13 hits against the visiting Falcons in a game called after five innings due to the 10-run rule.
Kalani (1-2) 101 30 -- 5 6 3 Kahuku (1-2) 581 6x -- 20 13 3 Rodney Roque, Emrick Hirokawa (3), Scott Komine (4), Grant Arakaki (5) and Sean Kaku. Melvin Silva and Alex Ponciano.
Leading hitters--Kal: Sean Kaku, 2-3, 3b, RBI. Kah: Jeremiah Bohnet, 3-4, 2b, HR, 5 RBIs; Spencer Nakamura, 3-4, 3b; Melvin Silva, 2-3; Daniel Kawahakui, 2-3, 2b.
Kalaheo 8, Farrington 3:
Nine errors and 14 runners stranded were too much to overcome for the Governors as the Mustangs earned their first win of the season.
Kalaheo (1-1) 310 310 3-- 8 6 3 Farrington (0-3) 111 000 0-- 3 9 9 C. Rego, I. Hollinger (6) and R. Tucker; Criston Barba, Shaun Tabil (5) and Dennis Rodrigues, Shaun Tabil (8).
Leading hitters--Kala: E. Lindstom, 2-4, HR, 2 RBIs. Farr: Micah Alexander, 3-4, HR, 2 RBIs; Roy Gano, 2-4. Michael Rabago, 2b; Patrick Uego, 2b, RBI.
Roosevelt 4, Kaimuki 3:
A pair of Kaimuki errors fueled a four-run Rough Rider outburst in the second inning and Roosevelt pitchers Brandon Loo and Jason Yasuda combined for 10 strikeouts to frustrate the Bulldogs the rest of the way.
Kaimuki (1-2) 201 000 0 -- 3 7 2 Roosevelt (3-0) 040 000 0 -- 4 3 3 D. Swarenger, Sean Nomura (3) and Leland Ohelo; Brandon Loo, Jason Yasuda (5) and Joey Shimabuku.
Kaimuki -- Brandon Hayashida 2-4, 2B; Roosevelt -- Justin Okada 3B.
Moanalua 15, McKinley 5:
Jimmy Strombach hit a two-run homer to spark the Menehu nes over the Tigers. Lorin Nakagawa also had two RBIs for Moanalua.
Moanalua (2-1) 546 00 --15 10 3 McKinley (0-3) 302 00 -- 5 9 5 Kyle Nakamichi, Nate Mansburger (5) and Lorin Nakagawa; Blaine Yoshino, Reid Goto (3) and Kaipo Avilez. W--Nakamichi. L--Yoshino.
Leading hitters--Moa: Abe Manutai 2-2, 2b, 2 RBIs; Lorin Nakagawa 2-2, 2b, 2 RBIs; Geoffrey Say 2-3, 3b; Jimmy Strombach HR, 2 RBIs. McK: Kaipo Avilez 3-3, 2b; Bard Lauofo 2-2.
OIA West
Mililani 6, Waipahu 3:
Weston Kirisu and Justin Amano both homered to lead the Trojans over the host Marauders.
Mililani (3-0) 000 031 2-- 6 6 0 Waipahu (0-3) 001 020 0-- 3 9 0 Adam Inaba, Weston Kirisu (5) Nick Mizusawa (5) and Kurt Miyahara; Jaryd Kiyabu, Jannsen Rivea (7) and Jannsen Rivea, Clifton Gumban (7).
Leading hitters--Mili: Weston Kirisu, 2-3, HR; Justin Amano, 2-run HR; Mark Villegas, 2b, RBI; Shaun Saito, 2b, RBI. Wai: Travis Atualevao, 2-4; Jaryd Kiyabu, 3-3, 2b; Cory Chevalier, 2b, RBI.
Waianae 11, Campbell 10:
The Seariders rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to overcome a two-run deficit and defeat Campbell.
Campbell (2-1) 311 140 0--10 12 7 Waianae (1-1) 300 500 3--11 9 4 Chad Bailey, Jenses Mata (4), Shaunsey Saito (7), Mata (7) and Ikaika Trinidad; Cid Moses, Chad Fuller (4), Brian Gasper (5) and Peter Sarono.
Leading hitters--Cam: Chad Bailey, 2-3, 3b, 3 RBIs; William Tement, 3-4; Garrett Hermosura, 3-4. Wai: Jonah Nunuha, 2-5; Brian Gasper, 3-4, 3b.
Aiea 11, Nanakuli 1:
Na Alii jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two innings and never looked back in downing the visiting Golden Hawks. Casey Onaga and Brandon Armstrong each drove in two runs for Aiea.
Nanakuli (1-1) 001 000 -- 1 2 3 Aiea (2-0) 350 20 1-- 11 8 3 Jerel Alapai, Brian Meade (3) and Justin Bright. Darryl Fukamizu, Blake Lamu (4) Rannon Aquino (6) and Aaron Powell, Justin Nii (4).
Leading hitters--Aiea: Casey Onaga, 2-2, 3b, 2 RBIs; Brandon Armstrong, 2-2, 2b, 2 RBIs; Justin Nii, 2-2; Brian Tucker-Salas, 2b.
Leilehua 10, Radford 0:
Spencer Omalza tossed a complete-game shutout to carry the Mules (1-2) past the Rams (0-2). No other details reported.
Hawaii School Web Sites