If you need to get to the state tournament, you may not be able to find a better pitcher to get you there than Shannon Kahale. Kahale carries Warriors
By Jerry Campany
Kahale and Kamehameha avenged an early season loss and earned a berth in the state tournament at the same time, taking care of Punahou 9-5 last night at Ala Wai Field.
All Kahale did before taking the mound yesterday was throw 17 1/3 innings this season, all of them scoreless. He stretched that streak to 23 before allowing Punahou a harmless run in the sixth.
The Buffanblu finally got to Kahale for four runs in the final inning, forcing Kamehameha coach Vern Ramie to take a slow stroll to the mound to talk to his pitcher. He wasn't going to take his ace out, though.
"He just came out and said he was tired," Kahale said. "He said he wanted to get the game over so he could go home."
Kahale got the last scoreless 5 2/3 innings the way he got the previous ones, with a fastball that the Buffanblu waved at for seven strikeouts.
"He pitched a fantastic game when we really needed it," Ramie said. "Even in the last inning he was making good pitches. A good team was just hitting them."
The left-hander got the ball to the plate so quickly that of the 25 batters who hit the ball off him, only four were able to pull it. In their defense, the Buffanblu went in knowing Kahale's heat and tried to slap the ball to the opposite side to counter it.
"My command just wasn't there today," Kahale said. "Their philosophy is to hit it the other way so I just wanted to bust them inside."
Not only was he throwing the ball too hard for the Buffanblu batters, he was putting it in the strike zone. He threw 115 pitches, 76 of them strikes. Most of them were fastballs because he didn't need another pitch.
It appeared that Kamehameha gave Kahale all the runs he would need by being patient in the second inning. Nick Freitas led off the second inning with a walk. Zach McAngus waited six pitches before singling into left field. Aaron Fuller and J.P. Kennedy followed with singles to plate a run and load the bases.
The bases weren't full for long, as Keoni Ruth laced the first pitch he saw down the left-field line and into the corner for a bases-clearing triple. Jered Pate got the next two guys, but was replaced at the top of the following inning.
"Keoni's been clutching up for us all year," Ramie said. "Time and time again he has come through for us, and if it's not him it's someone else. That's what is nice about our ballclub."
At Ala Wai Field
Kamehameha (11-2) 052 002 0 -- 9 11 3 Punahou (9-4) 000 001 4 -- 5 11 2 Shannon Kahale and Baba Merino. Jered Pate, Kasey Ko (3), Reyn Nakamasu (7) and Todd LaFountaine. W -- Kahale. L -- Pate.
Leading hitters -- Kamehameha: Zach McAngus, 2-4; Aaron Fuller, 2-4, 3 RBIs; Shannon Kahale, 2-4, RBIs; Nick Freitas, 2-3; Keoni Ruth, 3b, 4 RBIs. Punahou: Ryan Shimizu, 2-3, RBIs; Todd LaFountaine, 2b; Mark Veneri, 2-4, 2b, RBI; Landon Nakata, 2b.
Iolani 5, St. Louis 4
Kila Kaaihue picked up his league-leading third save as the Raiders held off the Crusaders.
Kaaihue struck out Grandon Costa to end the game with the tying run on first base. St. Louis stranded 12 runners, leaving the bases loaded three times.
At Ala Wai Field
St. Louis (7-6) 100 200 1 -- 4 13 1 Iolani (8-5) 310 100 x -- 5 8 0 Leon Julian, Kaimi Mead (6) and Jowen Murray-Thornton. Chris Loo, Eric Muraoka (5), Dustin Goto (6), Kila Kaaihue (7) and Reid Saito. W -- Muraoka. L -- Julian. S -- Kaaihue.
Leading hitters -- St. Louis: Danny Lee, 3-4, RBI; Justin Humalon, 2-2, 3b, RBI; Grandon Costa, 2b. Iolani: Kila Kaaihue, 3-3, 2b, RBI; Reed Tanaka, 2 RBIs; Reid Saito, 3b.
Mid-Pacific 14, Damien 2
The Owls scored nine runs on 11 hits in the first inning and snapped a three-game losing streak against the Monarchs.
Troy Hanzawa, Matt Inouye, Ryan Basco and Justin Pate each had three hits. Harrison Kuroda struck ouf three in six innings to earn the win.
At Joey DeSa Field
Mid-Pacific (9-4) 902 000 3 -- 14 19 0 Damien (1-12) 110 000 0 -- 2 10 1 Harrison Kuroda, Kurt Uwaine (7) and Matt Inouye, Ivan Kabei (7); Brandon Tamanaha, Destin Alameida (1), Chase Masuda (7) and Jarrett Takayama. W -- Kuroda. L -- Tamanaha.
Leading hitters -- Mid-Pacific: Troy Hanzawa, 3-5; M. Inouye, 3-4, 2 2bs, 2 RBIs; Keven Whalen, 2b; Ryan Basco, 3-5, 3 RBIs; Justin Pate, 3-4, 2b; Justin Kashiwaeda, 2-4, 2 RBIs; Tyler Okamura, 2b, 2 RBIs; Blake Kaneshiro, 3b, 2 RBIs. Damien: C. Masuda, 3-4; B. Tamanaha, 2-4; D. Alameida, 2-4, 2b.
Pac-Five 7, Maryknoll 5
The Wolfpack improved to 3-10 with the win, while the Spartans fell to 4-9. Details were not available.
OIA Junior Varsity
Kapolei 12, Radford 7
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