HANAPEPE — It was like the Little League World Series all over again Saturday. A three-run homer with two away in the sixth inning by Vonn Fe‘ao pulled the St. Louis Crusaders from a 3-1 deficit to a 5-3 lead
HANAPEPE — It was like the Little League World Series all over again Saturday.
A three-run homer with two away in the sixth inning by Vonn Fe‘ao pulled the St. Louis Crusaders from a 3-1 deficit to a 5-3 lead at the championship game for the Waimea Invitational Baseball Tournament at Hanapepe Stadium.
The Crusaders capitalized on a tiring Trent Allianic, pitching his first game of the season, by walking its firstbaseman, Moses Samia, in the sixth inning. Samia scored on a RBI single by Kaden Kamoe with no outs.
“Trent had to prove that he could pitch,” said Scott Shimabukuro,a Kaua‘i parent. “He was out this morning running in his T-shirt and shorts to prove to his father that he could throw.”
Allianic, who signed a Letter of Intent to play for the University of Hawai‘i, was about ready to quit the team for a shoulder surgery but was cleared to pitch, Scott said.
Crusader courtesy runner Derek Nakasato was thrown out at thirdbase attempting to advance on a passed ball but was tagged by Travis Koga for the first out. Fe‘ao followed and on a one-strike pitch nailed the ball into the jet stream to deep centerfield to pull St. Louis into the lead for the first time in the game.
Kaua‘i answered as its No. 9 batter, Taran Tani, came up with an RBI single with two away to score pinch runner Shea Shimabukuro for the final accounting as lead-off hitter Dustin Prem flied to center for the game.
With the win, St. Louis leaves Kaua‘i undefeated in the tournament after clinching its final pool game 11-7 over host Waimea, Saturday morning.
“They started hitting late in the game,” said Kelly Robinson, a Waimea coach.
That set the stage for the championship game as Kaua‘i earned the playoff berth with a 23-4 win over Lahainaluna earlier in the day at the Waimea High School field.
“This game was settled on the 10-run ruling, but it seemed to go on forever,” said Kaua‘i athletic director Ross Shimabukuro. “Lahaina was almost at the end of its pitchers and Kaua‘i kept hitting.”
In the final pool play game, Saturday, Kapa‘a picked up its first win of the tournament with a 10-0 win over Honoka‘a at Hanapepe Stadium.
As the championship game unfolded, fans that filled the grandstand and the field bleachers were thrilled to Allianic’s pitching that kept St. Louis in catch-up mode through five innings.
Chasing a 3-0 deficit, Crusader leftfielder Layson Alviado opened the third inning with a solid two-bagger. But coupled with a Raider error to advance to third, and an interference call, Alviado, whose dad Layton was a coach for the World Series Ewa Beach team and was sitting in the stands, finished play with an in-the-park homer.
Fe‘ao was a player on the Ewa Beach World Series team that was a key to its World Series title, Ross said. And on Saturday, he was key to the Crusaders’ come-from-behind tournament title.
A Waimea fan said the Crusader closer, Kini Enos, was the third member of the Ewa Beach World Series team that was key to that team’s World Series win in 2005.
Zach Markwith, the St. Louis starting pitcher, walked to the Hanapepe Neighborhood Center where the team was bivouacked for the tournament.
The Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation begins its 2009 season next Saturday with a double-header at Hanapepe Stadium when Kapa‘a visits Waimea starting at 10 a.m.
