[ HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETICS ]
Cameron Kimura powered Roosevelt into the Oahu Interscholastic Association baseball championship by hitting two home runs and tossing a complete game in a 6-4 victory over Aiea yesterday at Aloha Stadium. Kimura puts Rough
Riders in OIA finalBy Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe Rough Riders face defending league and state champion Kailua for the OIA title tonight at 7 at Aloha Stadium. Aiea and Mililani play for third place at 4:30 p.m.
Waianae and Waipahu meet for fifth place and the league's last berth in the state tournament at 2 p.m.
Kimura provided the bulk of Roosevelt's offense in yesterday's first semifinal with two-run blasts in the second and sixth innings.
Roosevelt led the OIA in home runs during the regular season with 15, but Kimura wasn't among the team's hitting leaders entering the playoffs.
"We never know where the offense is coming from," Roosevelt coach Kerry Higa said. "If guys aren't hitting, then other people step it up and that's what made us successful so far."
The Rough Riders took a 4-0 lead in the second inning on Kimura's first homer and a two-run triple by Corey Higa. Na Alii chipped away with single runs in the third and fourth. But Kimura put the game out of reach in the sixth with his second bomb.
Aiea loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh and scored two runs on sacrifice flies. But Kimura got a third flyout to end the game.
"I knew they could hit and they would be aggressive and they got the job done and we didn't," Aiea coach Ryan Kato said.
"The coaches take responsibility for this game," he added. "We're the ones who call the pitches."
On the mound, Kimura struck out four and kept Na Alii off balance at the plate by mixing speeds effectively. The victory provided Kimura redemption for an 8-6 loss to Aiea in the preseason.
"I knew how to pitch to certain guys and I knew their weaknesses and their strengths," Kimura said.
Kimura's complete game also kept the Rough Rider pitching staff fresh heading into tonight's final. Chris Mols went the distance in Roosevelt's quarterfinal win over Castle on Thursday.
"We went with a three-man rotation this whole season to prepare us for the tournament," Kerry Higa said.
It will be Roosevelt's first title game appearance since the Rough Riders lost to Waianae in the 1998 final.
"This is a big boost for school pride," Higa said. "A lot of supporters are coming out to our games and it's good to feel that energy behind us."
At Aloha Stadium
Aiea (9-2) 001 100 2 -- 4 5 1 Roosevelt (10-2) 040 002 x -- 6 6 2 Matt Yoshimura, Jared Matsuoka (2) and Aaron Asher. Cameron Kimura and Brandon Loo. W -- Kimura. L -- Yoshimmura.
Leading hitters -- Aiea: Ricky Takushi 3-3, RBI. Roosevelt: Corey Higa 2-3, 3b, 2 RBIs; Chris Mols 2b; Kimura 2 HR, 4 RBIs.
Kailua 3, Mililani 2: Kamaile Santos earned his second save of the tournament and drove in the go-ahead run to lead the Surfriders into the title game.
After Mililani took a 2-0 lead in the second, Kailua's Cody Texeira-Vickery tied the game with a two-run triple in the top of the third.
Santos followed with a sacrifice fly to score Texeira-Vickery with the eventual winning run.
Jason Moore picked up the win with five solid innings on the mound for Kailua.
Mililani moved the tying run to third in each of the last three innings, but couldn't cash in against Moore and Santos.
At Aloha Stadium
Kailua (10-3) 003 000 0 -- 3 5 1 Mililani (9-3) 110 000 0 -- 2 8 0 Jason Moore, Kamaile Santos (6) and Chad Nishizuka; Craig Sato, Clinton Blackman (5), Gainor Nitta (7) and Shawn Saito. W--Moore. L--Sato. S--Santos.
Leading hitters--Kailua: Taleki Mailau 2-3; Cody Texeira-Vickery 2-3, 3b, 2 RBIs; . Mililani: Gainor Nitta 2b; Trey Brown 2b, RBI; Nick Mizusawa 2b; Dustin Nuibe 2-3.
Att: 764
Fifth-place bracket
Waianae 7, Kahuku 5: Calvin Uyechi, Sid Moses and Chad Rodrigues combined on a six-hitter and scored two runs apiece as the Seariders advanced to today's OIA fifth-place game against Waipahu.
The winner earns a spot in next week's state tournament.
At Waianae H.S. field
Kahuku (8-4) 004 100 0 -- 5 6 1 Waianae (9-2) 200 140 0 -- 7 6 2 Kyle Pao and Melvin Silva. Calvin Uyechi, Sid Moses (4), Chad Rodrigues (6) and Michael Ferreira. W -- Moses. L -- Pao.
Leading hitters -- Kahuku: Silva 2-3. Waianae: Rodrigues 2-3, 2b, 2 runs; Moses, 3b, RBI, 2 runs; Uyechi, 2b, 2 RBI, 2 runs.
Waipahu 4, Castle 2: No other details were available.
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