WAIMEA — Just as the blistering tradewinds blew through the Waimea High School Field yesterday, so did its baseball team, who breezed by Kapa‘a, 15-5 in five innings. The game signaled the end of the first round, as Waimea was
WAIMEA — Just as the blistering tradewinds blew through the Waimea High School Field yesterday, so did its baseball team, who breezed by Kapa‘a, 15-5 in five innings. The game signaled the end of the first round, as Waimea was able to gain some momentum heading into round two.
Menehune pitcher Quinton Natividad was strong and masterful through four innings, allowing just two earned runs. Kane Zalopany came in for the close, but the senior ran into some trouble, however he found his control to end the contest in five innings.
Waimea pounced on Kapa‘a pitchers Joshua Teves and Moses Punzal for the 7-0 lead after two innings. Natividad, Kelly Batis, Broc Santiago, and Zalopany had the heavy bats early on. Kapa‘a managed to put up two runs on the board in the third inning, thanks to Jetson Wakuta’s RBI single and Joshua Teves tallied the other run.
In the fourth frame, Waimea exploded for seven runs, as Mana Shigematsu, Robbie Correa, Bully Pancho, Kellen Naka‘ahiki, Kori Sakahashi, Isaac Castillo, Natividad, and Bradley Frasco all contributed to the big inning.
Kapa‘a’s three runs in the fifth wasn’t enough to send the game to one more inning. Ekolu Allianic, Wesley Abalos, and Travis Shigeta scored for the Warriors, which made the final outcome, 15-5 in favor of the Menehune.
Kapa‘a opens up second round play in a double header against first round champ, Kaua‘i on April 16 at the Ron Martin Field, starting at 10 a.m.
