Kapa‘a’s challenge not enough

KAPA‘A — After getting drubbed 13-5 in the first game, the Kapa‘a Warriors fought back to challenge Kaua‘i, 8-6 in a tight game that went the distance.

“We not going to play dead,” one fan noted. We’re not going down easy,” another fan shouted.

The Warriors, who barely made it to five innings in most of their first round games, gave the Red Raiders the full seven innings of work in the doubleheader yesterday at the Ron Martin Field.

But for the men in red, a win is a win and the two victories enabled them to take an even stronger hold on the KIF baseball season. With the triumphs, Kaua‘i moved to 8-0 and the Warriors remained winless at 0-8.

Kapa‘a’s Josh Teves pitched seven strong innings and held the Red Raiders down for the first three innings.

The Warrior bats came alive from the start, as freshman Travis Shigeta slapped an RBI double and Ekolu Allianic crossed the plate on an error for the 2-0 lead in the first.

Teves helped himself out at the plate with a clutch 2-out RBI single in the second inning. Kapa‘a added two more runs in the third, thanks to Shigeta and Kahai Nakano for the 5-0 advantage.

The Red Raiders capitalized on Warrior errors in the fourth, as Dustin Pagador, Reggie Vigilia, and Aaron Adachi crossed the plate on miscues.

Shannon Oketani’s RBI sacrifice fly scored Blake Gingerich, which cut the lead to one run (5-4).

Kaua‘i leap frogged the Warriors in the fifth and never looked back, as Pagador nailed an RBI sacrifice bunt, scoring Kirby Yates, which tied the contest at five, and Schyler Arakaki-Ibia slammed an RBI double, scoring Stanton Yoshimori for the 6-5 lead. Gingerich and Oketani added two more runs for Kaua‘i and Kapa‘a’s Waylan Kupihea scored on an error in the sixth for the 8-6 final.

KIF baseball moves to Vidinha Stadium on Wednesday, as Kaua‘i hosts Waimea, starting at 2:45 p.m.