Shylen-John Keuma admitted to the Waimea coaches that he was feeling some nerves before he took the mound yesterday.

But certainly nothing a big first inning couldn't cure.

Keuma benefited from a strong start by the Menehune offense—contributing a two-run homer himself—in a 9-2 win over St. Anthony that sent Waimea to the championship game of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Division II State Baseball Tournament.

“;I told Shylen, 'Stay nervous because you hit better,' “; Waimea coach Michael Rita said after the Menehune earned a spot in today's 7 p.m. final.

Waimea leadoff hitter Mana Perreira-Alquiza ignited a five-run first inning with a home run to left field in the first game of an all-neighbor-island semifinal round at Hans L'Orange Park.

Keuma capped the outburst with his homer to left and held St. Anthony to four hits over four-plus innings to earn his second win of the tournament.

A day after Keuma threw four-plus innings in a 12-5 quarterfinal win over Waipahu on Thursday, Rita said he decided to send the sophomore to the mound again about 2 hours before the semifinal.

Keuma needed 63 pitches to get through another four yesterday. And just as in Thursday's game, Kalani Fernandez threw the final three innings to pick up the save.

“;We've been scoring 14 to 16 runs every game and they shut us down,”; St. Anthony coach George Stinger said. “;They're a good team and we take our hats off to those guys.”;

The Trojans fell into chase mode early when Perreira-Alquiza launched the fourth pitch he saw over the left-field fence for his second home run of the tournament.

“;I was just looking for a base hit to start off the game and saw my pitch,”; said Perreira-Alquiza, who went 3-for-5.

KAMEHAMEHA-HAWAII 7, HAWAII PREP 5

The Warriors won the BIIF showdown with Ka Makani to join Waimea in the championship game.

Kamehameha-Hawaii scored in each of the first five innings and Warrior first baseman Taylor Goo broke a 2-2 tie with an RBI single in the top of the third. Goo later scored on an RBI double by Gideon Kalili.

The Warriors added another run in the fourth when Keanu Dudoit-Isa tagged up and scored from second on Jayce Carvalho's flyout to deep left field.

Hawaii Prep brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but Maverick Kang ended the threat with his 10th strikeout.