Warriors place 3rd in D2 baseball tourney

Kapaa High School’s varsity baseball team placed third in the 2018 Wally Yonamine Foundation Baseball State Championships–Division II tournament.

Kapaa (13-4, 2-1 HHSAA) of the Kauai Interscholastic Federation defeated Farrington High School of the Oahu Interscholastic Association in the third place game, 7-6, in six innings Friday afternoon at Les Murakami Stadium in Honolulu.

The game ended after the sixth inning because of a two-hour time limit.

“Today’s game, we played well. We jumped out ahead early,” Kapaa head coach Bryan Aiwohi said in a phone interview Friday. “My goal once we got the lead was to get everybody in. So, we did. We made some mistakes here and there and they scored some runs, and we got my starters back in.”

Kapaa scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and four runs in the bottom of the third.

In the first inning with runners on second and third, Warriors shortstop Ka’imi Malina hit a two-RBI to center field.

In the third inning, Warriors catcher Noa Cardinez knocked a two-RBI triple to score runners from first and third. Cardinez scored later on a wild pitch.

“Everything went well. We started hitting again,” Aiwohi said. “We played small ball good, and we were stealing bases good. We just played our normal game today. We knew we’re better than Farrington. We just had to prove it.”

The Warriors coach added of Cardinez’s triple in the third: “He pounded that thing over the guy’s head. It was a no-doubter.”

Farrington threatened in the top of the sixth inning with six runs plated on five hits. Governors outfielder Treven Isobe drove in two more runs as he reached base on an error in the inning.

But Kapaa got out of the sixth with a one-run lead to clinch third place as Cardinez, pitching in relief, got the last two outs on strikeouts.

“We were hoping our defense would get us out of it,” Aiwohi said. “We ended up changing our pitcher twice. We finally put in Cardinez at the end, and he got the last two outs.”

Kapaa got seven runs on five hits and recorded one error. Cardinez was 1-2, drove in two RBIs and scored one run.

Warriors designated hitter Kade Kupihea was 1-1 and scored two runs. First baseman and relief pitcher Levi Cummings was 1-2, drove in one RBI and scored two runs.

Warriors starting pitcher Ka’eo Kamau got the win. In five-plus innings, Kamau allowed four runs on five hits and had two strikeouts and one walk.

Farrington got six runs on eight hits and also recorded one error. Governors catcher Hunter Atagi was 2-2, drove in one RBI and scored a run.

Governors starting pitcher Chasen Castillano took the loss. In three innings, he allowed seven runs on four hits and had one strikeout and two walks.

Kapaa ends its season with a 13-4 overall record. The Warriors were 11-3 in the regular season to claim its first Kauai Interscholastic Federation championship since 2013 and was 2-1 at the Division II state tournament.

“As far as the boys are concerned, as I said before, it was a goal that we set the first time we were working out,” Aiwohi said. “Pretty much, everybody stuck to it. We never gave up. We always kept believing. Even though we didn’t win the first round (of the KIF season), we always kept believing. We knew what we needed to do, and we did it. I can’t be happier with how these guys performed.

“As far as the tournament, yeah, it was downer losing yesterday. It’s a game we should have won, and we know that. But, it is what it is. It’s how baseball is. Anybody can beat anybody on a given day. I just told the boys, ‘Hey, redeem ourselves today.’ They did, so I was happy with that.”

Information from Hawaii High School Athletic Association and ScoringLive.

Division II results

Fifth place: Kamehameha Schools-Hawaii (BIIF) 7, Konawaena (BIIF) 3

Third place: Kapaa (KIF) 7, Farrington (OIA) 6

Championship: No. 1 Damien (ILH) 12, Radford (OIA) 0

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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.