Late rally puts Kailua
in final

The OIA champion Surfriders
overcome a two-run deficit with
a three-run seventh

Kailua rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and advanced to the state championship game with a dramatic 5-4 win over Kamehameha last night at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Surfriders erased a 4-2 deficit with one out in the final inning on Matthew Kinoshita's two-run double to left field and won it when pinch hitter Kurt Sasaoka singled down the left-field line to end the game.

Kailua, which lost to Kamehameha in the 2003 title game, plays defending state champion Punahou in the final game of the Wally Yonamine Foundation State Baseball Championship tonight at 8.

Kamehameha faces Waiakea in the third-place game at 5.

Sasaoka tore a contact lens earlier in the day and wasn't supposed to play last night.

"We just believe in that Kailua baseball magic," Kailua coach Corey Ishigo said. "I wasn't going to play (Sasaoka), but I needed a righty against the lefty and he came through."

Kevin Matsumoto, who picked up a complete-game win over Mililani on Thursday, earned his second victory of the tournament with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Both teams squandered scoring opportunities early in the game. Kamehameha stranded runners at third in both innings, with Aaron Kent ending the threats with strikeouts. Kailua loaded the bases with two out in the second, but Warriors catcher Stuart Kam picked off Kailua's Kelii Klobucar at first base to snuff the rally.

The Surfriders broke through with two runs in the bottom of the fourth. After Matthew Kinoshita walked to lead off the inning, Matsumoto stroked a double into the left-field corner and Kinoshita beat the throw to the plate. Matsumoto went to third on the throw and later scored on Aaron Kunioka's sacrifice fly to center.

Kamehameha jumped into the lead with three runs in the fifth. Aaron Nichols doubled down the third-base line and scored on Nick Freitas' two-out single to left field. A walk and a hit batter loaded the bases for Jamie Smeigh, who dropped a looper into right field for a two-run double.

Kailua put a runner at third with one out in the bottom of the inning. Kamehameha sophomore John Worthington was brought in to relieve starter Erik Price and struck out Ryan Rodrigues and induced a pop-up from Matthew Kinoshita to preserve the Warriors' lead.

Kamehameha added to its lead in the sixth on Nichols' run-scoring single to score Chad Asato.

After leaving runners on second and third in the sixth, the Surfriders rallied again in the seventh, as Tyler Harrison singled and Rodrigues doubled to right-center. With one out, Kinoshita then roped a Worthington pitch into the left-field corner for a game-tying double.

After the Warriors brought in Waylen Sing Chow to pitch, Sasaoka ripped a shot past third baseman Eli Chee to win the game.

"The pitch was right there and I just ripped it," Sasaoka said. "When it went under the guy's glove I knew we had won it."

At Les Murakami Stadium

Kamehameha (18-5)	000	031	0	--	4	6	2
Kailua (11-3)	000	200	3	--	5	9	1

Erik Price, John Worthington (5), Waylen Sing Chow (7) and Stuart Kam; Aaron Kent, Kevin Matsumoto (6) and Michael D'Alessio. W--Matsumoto. L--Worthington.
Leading hitters--Kamehameha: Aaron Nichols 2-3, 2b, RBI; Eli Chee 2b; Jamie Smeigh 2b, 2 RBIs; Kamu Freitas 2b. Kailua: Tyler Harrison 2-3; Kevin Matsumoto 2b, RBI; Ryan Rodrigues 2b; Matthew Kinoshita 2b, 2 RBIs.

HHSAA baseball

At Les Murakami Stadium
Seeds: 1. Punahou. 2. Kailua. 3. Baldwin. 4. Waiakea.

yesterday
10: Aiea 2, Kamehameha-Hawaii 1
11: Moanalua 8, Kauai 2
12: Baldwin 3, Mililani 1
13: Punahou 3, Waiakea 2
14: Kailua 5, Kamehameha 4

today
15: Seventh place, Pearl City vs. Aiea, noon
16: Fifth place, Moanalua vs. Baldwin, 2:30 p.m.
17: Third place, Waiakea vs. Kamehameha, 5 p.m.
18: Championship, Punahou vs. Kailua, 8 p.m.