[ HIGH SCHOOL ]
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kamehameha outfielder Andrew Phillips made a diving catch against Damien yesterday.
Kamehameha 4-1
after rout of Damien
Leave it to the sluggers from Kapalama Heights to knock Damien back down to earth.
Travis Young, A.J. Satele and Eli Chee socked towering home runs as Kamehameha overwhelmed Damien 12-2 in five innings yesterday at Joey DeSa Field. Senior Jacob Cockett scattered five hits for the win.
"He has good stuff. He pitched ahead most of the time today," Kamehameha coach Vern Ramie said. "When he does that, he's effective."
Damien coach John Matias agreed. "He threw strikes and pitched a good game," the longtime coach said. "The key is, we have to throw strikes and make defensive plays. We had three errors."
The Warriors improved to 4-1 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. Damien, which earned a stunning win over perennial power Iolani 12 days ago, dropped to 1-2.
"We've been struggling a little, and playing on our home field, our guys feel comfortable here," Ramie said of his team's 13-hit attack. Young and Dane Ogawa each went 3-for-3, while Chee was 2-for-2. Spenser McCready and Satele went 2-for-3.
Kamehameha, which entered yesterday's game in a first-place tie with Mid-Pacific and Saint Louis, visits Iolani tomorrow in a 1 p.m. game. Damien faces Maryknoll today at DeSa Field in a 3:45 p.m. matchup. The Monarchs then meet Saint Louis tomorrow in a 3 p.m. game at Ala Wai Field.
The Warriors exploded with a seven-run first inning against Monarchs starter Chris Stephenson. Young led off with an infield single and advanced to third on a misfired pickoff attempt by Stephenson. It was the first of three errors by Damien.
Ogawa, who recently returned from an elbow injury, singled to left, bringing Young home with Kamehameha's first run. From there, McCready and Satele delivered RBI singles to give the Warriors a 3-0 lead.
Chee, batting eighth, hit a three-run homer to left, giving Kamehameha a 6-0 lead. Moments later, Stuart Kam, who reached base on an error by Damien centerfielder Elijah Souza, came in to score when Young doubled to left.
The Monarchs responded with a run in the top of the second. Kaimana Balanon, who went 2-for-2 to lead Damien, doubled to center with two outs. He came in to score on Ogawa's throwing error at short.
Damien threatened to score in the third after Jarrett Takayama and Ranson DeCosta singled to position runners at the corners. However, Cockett induced Jason Luke and Sean Michael Stoltzman to hit back-to-back fielder's-choice grounders to short, ending the frame.
Brandon Baguio, pitching in relief of Stephenson, kept Kamehameha's bats cool until the fourth. That's when the Warriors drilled five base hits -- four for extra bases -- to extend the lead.
Young led off with a mammoth shot to left. After Baguio fanned Andrew Phillips, Ogawa singled, McCready socked an RBI double and Keola Kaluhiokalani drilled a two-run ground-rule double to left-center. Satele followed with a two-run homer to left, and Kamehameha led 12-1.
Southpaw Ho'olako O'Hara took over on the mound and got the final two outs of the inning.
In the top of the fifth, Stoltzman doubled to center, bringing DeCosta home with Damien's second run. Cockett settled down and retired Raymond Alapai on a groundout to third, ending the inning and the game due to the 10-run rule.
"There's plenty of room for improvement," Ramie said. "We had a couple of situations where we had a runner on second and didn't move the runner over."
The battles of attrition that make ILH baseball compelling got even more intense this season. The Big Island Interscholastic Federation, with the inclusion of newcomer Kamehameha-Hawaii and the return of old standby Laupahoehoe, now has a third state tournament berth. That leaves the ILH and Maui Interscholastic League on the outside.
The ILH regular-season champion still has an automatic state berth, but the league no longer has two at-large entries. Instead, the second-place team will face the MIL runner-up in a play-in game to enter the state tourney.
That puts a mighty premium on winning the regular season, and the Warriors know it. "There's so much parity," Ramie said. "You gotta come ready to play every day. That's what makes the ILH tough."
At DeSa field
Damien (1-2) 010 01 -- 2 5 4 Kamehameha (4-1) 700 5X -- 12 12 1 Chris Stephenson, Brandon Baguio (1), Hoolako Ohara (4), and Nick Zieser, Baguio (4). Jacob Cockett and Stuart Kam. W--Cockett. L--Stephenson.
Leading hitters--Dam: Kaimana Balanon, 2-2, 2b, run; Sean Stoltzman, 1-3, 2b, RBI. Kam: Travis Young, 3-3, 2b, HR, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Dayne Ogawa, 3-3, 2b, 2 runs, RBI; Spenser McCready, 2-3, 2 2b, 2 runs, RBI; Keola Kaluhiokalani, 1-2, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; AJ Satele, 2-3, 2-run HR, 3 RBIs, 2 runs; Eli Chee, 2-2, 3-run HR.
Punahou 15, Maryknoll 6: Justin Ariki's grand slam highlighted the Buffanblu's offense as Punahou defeated the Spartans in a game called in the sixth inning after the Ala Wai field lights were shut down.
Michael Lam went 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs for the Buffanblu, while Peter Kirst had a triple and a pair of RBIs for Maryknoll.
Maryknoll (0-4) 300 12 -- 6 5 2 Punahou (3-2) 134 16 -- 15 13 6 Peter Kirst, Chris Lum (4), Ryan DeMello (5), Nick Holmberg (5), and Brian Tabata. Kurt Fujitani, Tyler Tokigawa (3), Kurt Komatsubara (5), and Robert Kurisu. W--Komatsubara. L--Kirst.
Leading hitters--Mryk: Brennen Young, 2-3, 3b; Kirst 3b, 2 RBI. Pun: Shaun Kiriu, 3-4, 3b, 2 RBIs; Michael Lam, 3-3, 3b, 3 RBIs; Justin Ariki, grand slam; Kasey Ko, 2-4, 2b, RBI; Robert Kurisu, 3b; Noah Phillips, 2b, RBI.
Mid-Pacific 6, Iolani 5: Chris Freshour's base hit scored Brenton Endo with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to push the Owls past the Raiders to remain tied for first in the ILH.
Mid-Pacific's first three batters scored to give the Owls a 3-0 first-inning lead, but Iolani responded with three runs in the top of the second inning, capped by Wally Marciel's RBI double.
Iolani (1-4) 031 001 0 -- 5 8 2 Mid-Pacific (4-1) 301 100 1 -- 6 9 1 Sean Freas, Wally Marciel (6), and Bert Mitsunaga. Conan Young, Jayson Kramer (4), and Kip Masuda. W--Kramer. L--Marciel.
Leading hitters--Iol: Marciel 2-3, 2b, run; Cody Kim, 2-3, RBI; Mitsunaga, 1-2, HR, 2 runs. MPI: Chris Goya, 2-4, 2 runs; Adam Tamashiro, 2-4, run; Ryan Asato, 1-4, 2b, 3 RBIs; Randy Rundgren, 1-3, HR.
Saint Louis 9, Pac-Five 3: Four Crusaders pitchers combined on a four-hitter as Saint Louis defeated the Wolfpack.
Chester Wilson went 4-for-4 with two RBIs to lead Saint Louis.
Pac-Five (1-3) 000 030 0 -- 3 5 3 Saint Louis (4-1) 003 060 x -- 9 13 1 Samson Aina, Nick Miyamoto (5), Paul Nishimura (5) and Aaron Chilcote. Danny Lee, Jordan Duropan (5), Cameron Bayne (5), Ryan Sasaki (6) and Jowen Murray-Thornton. W -- Bayne. L -- Miyamoto
Leading hitters--P5: Paul Nishimura 2-4, RBI; Jacob Mellor 2b, RBI. StL: Chester Wilson 4-4, 2b, 2 RBIs; Johnny Gentry 2-3, 2b, RBI; Lee 2b, RBI; Sheldon Santiago 2-4, 2b; Murray-Thornton 2-4, 2b, 3b, RBI.
OIA EAST BASEBALL
Castle 8, Kahuku 3: Ikaika Reppuhn went 4-for-4 and Travis Paaga scattered four hits in a complete game win as the Knights defeated the Red Raiders.Paaga's only problems came in the fifth inning, as Kahuku scored three runs on an RBI double by BJ Adolpho and a two-run triple by Kimball Niumatalolo.
At Castle H.S. field
Kahuku (0-3) 000 030 0 -- 3 4 3 Castle (1-2) 220 022 x -- 8 10 1 Kurtney Silva and M.J. Sabido. Travis Paaga and David Mohika. W--Paaga. L--Silva.
Leading hitters--Kah: Kimball Niumatalolo, 2-4, 3b, 2 RBIs; BJ Adolpho, 1-2, 2b, RBI. Cas: Mike Hayasaka, 2-4, 2b, RBI; Ikaika Reppuhn, 4-4, RBI; Paaga, 2-3, 2b, 2 RBIs; Evan Kaneshiro, 2-2, 2b.OIA East Girls Basketball
Kaiser 53, Moanalua 37: Shera Yamamoto scored 11 of her 13 points, including three 3-pointers, in the first half as the Cougars used a full-court press to outscore Moanalua 17-0 in the second quarter to move Kaiser within half a game of Kahuku and Roosevelt for first place in the OIA East.
At Kaiser H.S. gym
Moanalua (1-2) 9 0 17 11 -- 37 Kaiser (3-1) 16 17 12 8 -- 53 MOANALUA--Talia Bertulfuo 0, Mesha Macadangdang 0, Kaitlyn Ikehara 0, Ronni Keliihoomalu 9, Lisa Ertl 2, Sasha Silva 4, Joy Matsukawa 8, Kepua Lee 10, Jade Miller 4, Alieshia Morris 0.
KAISER--Shera Yamamoto 13, Jaime Nerona 9, Chelsea Kapuniai 0, Sharde Pratt 16, Jolie Yoshino 2, Natasha Aloisio 0, Kelsey Beck 0, Kehau Bangay 0, Kilioe Aliifua 13.
3-point goals -- Moanalua 2 (Matsukawa), Kaiser 4 (Yamamoto 3, Nerona).
Junior varsity -- Moanalua 39, Kaiser 34
