WAIMEA — An error and a homerun proved too much for Kaua‘i High to overcome and the Red Raiders dropped a double-header to Waimea. An errant throw on a Whitney Yadao bunt was the difference in an 8-7 extra inning
WAIMEA — An error and a homerun proved too much for Kaua‘i High to overcome and the Red Raiders dropped a double-header to Waimea.
An errant throw on a Whitney Yadao bunt was the difference in an 8-7 extra inning loss in Game 1.
In Game 2, Cassie Koerte walked into a homerun in the bottom of the eighth to give Waimea a 9-8 lead.
“This puts them in the driver’s seat,” Kaua‘i coach Darrell Borrero said. “But it also gives a boost to softball in general.”
Waimea now holds a 3-0 record in Round 2 after getting past Kapa‘a 9-5 Wednesday night.
First-round winner Kaua‘i will have a chance to regroup when they host Kapa‘a Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
“Now people cannot just say, ‘Oh, Kaua‘i is going to win,’” Borrero said. “We have a three-team league and all three teams can win. This should help draw the crowds.”
For Waimea coach Teddy Pereira, the defensive changes he initiated Wednesday in Kapa‘a were still in force as the Menehune crawled back to win Game 1.
In addition to moving Shana Tafiti from shortstop to catcher, Pereira shuffled his batting order so his big batters could capitalize on the lineup.
Menehune leftfielder Whitney Yadao was one of the setup batters, driving Moani Durant home for an early 1-0 lead in the opening inning of Game 1.
But Kaua‘i answered back and took control as Jessica Iwata smacked a three-run homerun to deep center. Sam Koga followed with an RBI double to drive Randi Oketani, giving Kaua‘i a 4-1 lead after two innings. To more runs scored on a fourth-inning Menehune error.
Trailing 6-1, Waimea answered in the fifth with a five-run, six-hit frame to knot things up. Tafitit and Koerte each had two-run hits, and Yadao’s magic bat continued to sing for an RBI single scoring Tatum Gonsalves.
Kaua‘i broke the 6-6 deadlock in the eighth as Iwata singled, then advanced to third on a Waimea error off a Wailana Borrero bunt with no outs. Oketani’s RBI single scored Iwata.
In the bottom half of the eighth, Gonsalves reached first on an infield hit and came home on a Durant single to left to knot the contest with no outs.
Durant would later score the winning run on Yadao’s bunt and Kaua‘i’s error.
Borrero said Waimea was in control for most of Game 2, though Kaua‘i clawed back hit by hit to finally tie it before Koerte belted her walk-off homer for the win.
“We just weren’t making the plays and we gave up too many runs,” Borrero said. He also noted Wailana’s deteriorating health in Game 2.
“We had to ice her down. She just wasn’t feeling well,” he said.
KIF softball continues Wednesday at Isenberg Park with the first pitch at 5:30 p.m.
