GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kalani infielder Chassis Moody looked for the call as Moanalua baserunner Peter Arakawa slid into third base yesterday.
Falcons slide by
Menehunes for OIA win
One pitcher got tired. One didn't.
Otherwise, yesterday's Moanalua vs. Kalani baseball game could easily have gone into extra innings.
Instead, the Falcons scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh to defeat the Menehunes 1-0 in an important Oahu Interscholastic Association East contest at Kahala Field.
When the winning run crossed the plate, it gave Kalani lefty Randy Kitagawa a one-hitter and it relieved the tension building up in coach Shannon Hirai.
"I didn't get nervous, not at all, not with the guys I have behind me," said Kitagawa, whose performance lifted the Falcons to 5-1 and dropped Moanalua to 4-2-1. "I think we're ready to take it pretty far, especially after this one. Everybody is hyped up. I was feeling good in warmups and was able to use the curve right away in the first inning. I usually start the first few innings with fastballs and changeups and then work the curve in later."
Kitagawa (2-1) used the bender so effectively that he didn't walk a batter and finished with nine strikeouts.
"The team has a lot of confidence when Randy is on the mound," Hirai said. "They believe he can keep the other team's hitters down, and he's having a real good year at that.
"This one could have gone either way, so sometimes it's good to be lucky. It was a good game, but it was real stressful at times."
Kitagawa beat tough-luck Moanalua righty Chance Daskauskas, who kept the Falcons scoreless through six innings. But after issuing a one-out walk to Dustan Goya in the seventh, Daskauskas gave way to reliever Andrew Blomberg.
Goya stole second and Blomberg hit Reid Matsumura with a pitch before Chassis Moody ripped a hard grounder that bounded off a Moanalua infielder's glove and into the outfield. Goya rounded third and beat the throw home for the winning run while colliding with catcher Donovan Souza.
"I was still feeling pretty good, but I started throwing balls and that's why they took me out," said Daskauskas, a junior who threw more than 90 pitches and gave up five hits, but took the loss because he put Goya aboard. "I'm kind of (mad) right now. It was a tough loss."
After going down 1-2-3 in the first through third innings, the Menehunes succeeded -- with help from Kalani errors -- in bunting runners on in the fourth and fifth.
In the fourth, Peter Arakawa tried to go all the way to third on John Estores' sacrifice bunt, but was doubled up as Moody, the Falcons' shortstop, took the throw from first baseman Reid Matsumura and made the tag while scurrying in step with Arakawa's slide.
"We played well," Menehunes coach Scott Yamada said. "It just so happens that we came up on the short end. Kitagawa did a great job making us hit his pitches."
Estores had the Menehunes' only hit -- a blooper to center to lead off the seventh.
At Kahala Field
Moanalua (4-2-1) 000 000 0 --0 1 2 Kalani (5-1) 000 000 1 --1 5 2
Chance Daskauskas, Andrew Blomberg (7) and Donovan Souza; Randy Kitagawa and Preston Pires. W--Kitagawa. L--Daskauskas.
Leading hitters--Kaln: Chassis Moody 2b; Darren Takemoto 2-3.
Farrington 10, Kailua 9: Matt Bell scored on an error with two outs to complete a wild comeback as the Governors overcame five Surfriders home runs and rallied from a 9-4 seventh-inning deficit to win.
Farrington scored six runs in the last inning on two hits, three walks and two hit batters.
At Joey DeSa field
Kailua (5-1) 030 132 0 -- 9 13 1 Farrington (3-3-1) 010 003 6 -- 10 8 1
Ryan Rodrigues, Aaron Kent (5), Kevin Matsumoto (7), Bronson Kamaka (7) and Ho'o Obed. Chandler Mitchell, Alison Tolentino (4), Brian Cabral (5) and Matt Bell. W--Cabral. L--Kamaka.
Leading hitters--Kail: Rodrigues 2-3, 2 HRs; Sean Medeiros 2-4, 2b, HR; Derek Mailau 2-4, 2-run HR; Obed 2-3, 2b; Kamaka 2-4, 2b, 2-run HR. Far: Bell 3-run HR; Davin Alexander 2-5, 2 RBIs.
Roosevelt 10, Kalaheo 7: Pitcher Justin Goo helped his own cause in a win over the Mustangs, starting off the Rough Riders' four-run first inning with a solo home run.
At Stevenson Intermediate field
Kalaheo (3-3) 200 203 0 -- 7 5 2 Roosevelt (4-3) 403 030 x -- 10 10 4
Kalani Lingo, Sean Tamba (3), Sonny Harbottle (5) and Jacob Myking. Justin Goo, Kalani Yoshimura (6) and Kevin Fujii. W--Goo. L--Lingo. S--Yoshimura.
LH--Kalh: Tamba 2-4, 3b. Roos: Goo HR; Joshua Danz 2b, 2 RBIs; Jared Furtado 2-3, 2 RBIs; Fujii 2-3; Ricky Eusebio 3-4, 3b, 2 RBIs.
Kaiser 23, Kaimuki 4: The Cougars gained sole possession of the OIA East lead with a rout of the Bulldogs.
Andy Uehara was a single short of the cycle. He scored three times and had five RBIs.
At Kaimuki H.S. field
Kaiser (6-0) 614 (10)2 -- 23 19 1 Kaimuki (1-5) 001 21 -- 4 7 6
Michael Heu, Shannon Wise (4), Scott Uehara (5) and Jarryd Maeda, Andy Uehara (4). Desmond Johnston, Corey Morihara (5) and Janson Hew. W--Heu. L--Johnston.
Leading hitters--Kais: Landon Kaaua 3-5, 3 runs; S. Uehara 3-5, 2b, 3 runs, 3 RBIs; Maeda 2-2, 2b, 3 RBIs; Neale Asato 2-4, 2b, HR, 2 runs; Ryan Ishima 3-5, 4-runs, 2 RBIs; A. Uehara 3-3, 2b, 3b, HR, 3 runs; 5 RBIs; Mitchell Shimabukuro HR, 2 runs, 2 RBIs.
Castle 10, McKinley 2: Ikaika Reppuhn went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer in the fourth to put the Knights up 6-0. Castle's David Mohika went 2-for-4.
OIA WEST
Kapolei 7, Pearl City 6: Pearl City's Michael Higa led off the game with a homer on the third pitch from Jon Santiago, but the Hurricanes scored five runs in the next two innings to take the lead for good.
At Kapolei H.S. field
Pearl City (4-2) 103 110 0 -- 6 7 2 Kapolei (3-4) 141 100 x -- 7 9 1
Anthony Ganigan and Corey Giammalvo. Jon Santiago, Colin Dumlao (5) and Drake Kula. W--Santiago. L--Ganigan. S--Dumlao.
Leading hitters--PC: Michael Higa HR, 2 runs, RBI; Blake Kaneshiro 2-4, 2 runs; Giammalvo 2-4, 2b, HR, RBI. Kapo: Dumlao HR, 3 runs; Aaron Santiago 3-3, 2b, 2 runs, RBI; Justin Purvey 2b, RBI.
Waipahu 7, Radford 3: Shane Jelf went 3-for-4 with a triple and Mark Peralta pitched a complete game to lead the Marauders past the Rams.
At Radford H.S. field
Waipahu (3-4) 002 002 3 -- 7 9 2 Radford (2-4) 000 300 0 -- 3 5 2
Mark Peralta and Jake Tabieros. Andrew Atmospera, Chad Afi (5), Kahoku Tampos (6) and Kyle Howell. W--Peralta. L--Afi.
Leading hitters--Waip: Shane Jelf 3-4, 3b; Peralta 1-3, 2b. Rad: Afi 1-3, 2b.
Mililani 13, Waianae 3: Ryan Tsutsui pitched a complete game for the Trojans and went 4-for-4 with an RBI triple that ignited a six-run first inning as the Trojans cruised.
At Waianae H.S. field
Mililani (3-3) 605 002 -- 13 15 1 Waianae (3-4) 003 000 -- 3 10 2
Ryan Tsutsui and Kamaka Crabbe. Dylan Guzman, Darius Fuller (2), Alan Holt (4) and Mike Ferreira. W--Tsutsui. L--Guzman.
Leading hitters--Mil: Chaz Miyakami 2-5; Troy Flores 2-4; Tony Aquino 2-3; Reid Hirata 2-3; Crabb 2-3, 3b; Tsutsui 4-4, 3b. Wain: Clayton Uechi 2-3; Peter Carba 2-2.
Campbell 9, Nanakuli 2: Ian Pantorilla gave up just one run in six innings, striking out five, and was also 3-for-4 as the Sabers beat the Golden Hawks.
Bryson Felisi hit a solo homer for Nanakuli.
At Nanakuli H.S. field
Campbell (4-3) 204 003 0 -- 9 12 2 Nanakuli (2-4) 000 001 1 -- 2 2 6
Ian Pantorilla, Ian Belez (7) and Kendall Hobson. Bryson Felisi, Devan Harris (6) and Alfred Amasui, Nathan Manhu (6). W--Pantorilla. L--Felisi.
Leading hitters--Camp: Pantorilla 3-4; Jacob Kaku 2-3, 2b. Nan: Felisi solo HR; Marshall Lo 1-2, 2b, run.
Leilehua def. Waialua: The game was forfeited due to Waialua not having enough players. A decision will come today as to whether the Bulldogs will have enough players to play out the rest of the season.
