LIHU‘E — It is now safe to say that the Red Raiders are well on their way to securing another KIF championship, their third in a row, after a 6-2 triumph over the Menehune, yesterday at the Vidinha Stadium Ballpark.
LIHU‘E — It is now safe to say that the Red Raiders are well on their way to securing another KIF championship, their third in a row, after a 6-2 triumph over the Menehune, yesterday at the Vidinha Stadium Ballpark.
With the win, Kaua‘i moved to 3-0 in the second round and 9-0 on the season.
Behind the strong right arm of senior Kirby Yates, the Red Raiders jumped out to a 4-1 advantage going into the sixth inning.
The Kaua‘i ace overpowered the Menehune bats and nearly picked up a double digit mark in the strikeout department.
Yates, who picked up the win on the mound, also supplied the second run of the game with an RBI sacrifice fly, which scored Shannon Oketani, but before that, Jett Jasper flew home on an error.
Yates shut down the Menehune right up until the fourth inning, as Quinton Natividad roped an RBI single, scoring Troy Yamase.
But the Red Raiders answered with two runs in their half of the fourth. Jonathan Gebauer cracked an RBI triple, which enabled Schyler Arakaki-Ibia to cross the plate.
Then Gebauer followed Arakaki-Ibia by touching home plate on an error for the 4-1 Kaua‘i lead.
In the sixth inning, Kori Sakahashi scored on an error, which was the final run for the Menehune.
Kaua‘i added two more runs in the sixth, as Gebauer and Jasper crossed home plate on errors for the 6-2 advantage.
Waimea loaded up the bases on Yates with two outs in the seventh, but Broc Santiago, who represented the tying run, struck out swinging.
KIF baseball heads to Hanapepe Ballpark this Saturday, as Kapa‘a and Waimea tangle in doubleheader action, starting at 10 a.m.
