[ HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS ]
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Kamehameha baseball team celebrated after winning the state baseball title Saturday.
Kennedy’s snag capped
an exciting tournament
There was no such thing as a boring seventh inning in this year's state baseball tournament, especially when Isaac Kamai was on the mound.
Kamehameha's ace pitcher closed out the Warriors' wins over Kauai and Waiakea, but not before heightening the tension at Maui's Iron Maehara Stadium by putting the tying runs on base.
So when Kailua loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning of Saturday's state championship game with the Warriors protecting a 4-2 lead, it only kept with the theme of a Wally Yonamine Foundation State Baseball Championship marked by late-inning drama.
"A little bit shaky at the end, but that's Isaac, he makes it interesting," Kamehameha shortstop Keoni Ruth said.
Like his previous two outings, Kamai worked out of the jam to give Kamehameha its fourth state title and its first since 1988. Unlike those outings, when he struck out the final batter to end the game, Kamai needed help from first baseman JP Kennedy to spark a Warriors celebration.
When Kennedy snagged Shaun Sasaki's line shot and stepped on first base for a game-ending double play, it washed away the disappointment of finishing second in the state a year earlier.
"All I could think about was last year and it feels so good to just have it," Kennedy said of the final inning.
The win also gave Kamehameha coach Vern Ramie his first title in his fourth trip to the state final. The Warriors lost to Mid-Pacific in the championship game last year and saw Molokai rally to a win at Maehara Stadium in the 2000 title game.
"Coach Vern has been here to this title game numerous times and didn't win the title, all of us wanted to win it for him," Ruth said. "We wanted to win it for ourselves, but especially for him, for our parents and everybody who supports us."
It took Kennedy's play to halt what appeared to be yet another improbable comeback by a Kailua team that thrived on late-inning heroics this season. The Surfriders had won five consecutive games by scoring in their final turn at bat and nearly made it six.
They scored five runs in the seventh to defeat Roosevelt in the quarterfinals and advanced to the championship thanks to Ryan Rodrigues' home run in the bottom of the eighth against Mid-Pacific to end a brilliant semifinal game.
"They showed a lot to me, but most of all I think they showed a lot to the state of Hawaii," Kailua coach Corey Ishigo said of his club. "Our team is for real and we're not just lucky. To win five games in a row coming back in the last inning, it shows it wasn't luck.
"One or two in a row is lucky, but when you put together five in a row in playoff situations it's not luck."
Kailua managed just two hits and committed seven errors but still went into the final inning against Kamehameha within striking distance. The Surfriders trailed 4-1 going into the bottom of the seventh but an error, a catcher's interference call and two walks cut the lead to 4-2.
With the bases loaded and one out, Kamai took a moment to gather himself.
"I just had to stay calm and not let it get to me," Kamai said. "I had to stay mentally tough ... because the game was really in my hands at that point."
After taking a strike, Sasaki drilled a shot down the first-base line that would have at least tied the game had it not ended up in Kennedy's mitt.
"It feels great to go out with a bang and do one better than last year," Kamai said.
"I'm just so happy for these guys," Ramie said. "They worked so hard all year and deserve everything they get."
