HANAPEPE — Paul Correa finished with a home run and a single for five RBI under a symphony of “Too Easy” chants from the Waimea High School cheerleaders, Wednesday afternoon at Hanapepe Stadium. That pulled the Menehune back into the
HANAPEPE — Paul Correa finished with a home run and a single for five RBI under a symphony of “Too Easy” chants from the Waimea High School cheerleaders, Wednesday afternoon at Hanapepe Stadium.
That pulled the Menehune back into the fray and, following no scoring after the fourth inning, the light waned on a 7-7 tie against the visiting Kaua‘i High baseball team.
Correa pulled Waimea back into the contest twice, the first time with a three-run homer with one out in the bottom of the first inning, for a 3-2 lead.
That lead changed hands through four innings before Kaua‘i left-handed first baseman Jordan Leanio, being called to the mound in relief of starter Taran Tani, smacked a two-run shot to deep center field with two outs in the fourth inning, giving the Raiders a 7-5 Kaua‘i lead.
Correa answered in the bottom of the frame with a two-RBI single for the 7-7 deadlock. The game was called by umpire Gene Padilla after seven innings. Initially, it was announced that the game would resume at the end of the season if it had an impact on the standings, but eventually it was declared over, and a tie.
“Tie better than loss,” Kaua‘i High Head Coach Hank Ibia said. “They had chances to score. It was all good.”
Both teams had opportunities to break the stalemate in the later innings, but could not capitalize, as Kaua‘i’s base runner, Jamen Kealoha-Albarado, got aboard on a ground-rule double to open the fifth, but was cut down at second on a base-running error on a fly to right fielder Isaa Horner.
Similarly, Waimea’s Kailen Malama, getting aboard on a single in the bottom of the fifth, was taken out at third base on an attempted squeeze play.
Rysan Sakamoto opened the seventh inning with a single, but was left stranded as Waimea put out the next three batters.
Following Correa, Robert Perreira finished 2-4 and scored twice, both times by Correa hits. Malama was also 2-4, and catcher Dillon Ishihara singled as Waimea picked up eight hits in the contest.
Kaua‘i leadoff hitter Dustin Prem finished 3-4 with two doubles, and scored twice. Sakamoto was 2-4, scored once, and had an RBI. Kealoha-Albarado finished 2-4 with an RBI. Kaylen Wakumoto (1-4) scored once, followed by Leanio (1-4), each scoring once. Lanan Rice-Kashima, 1-4, finished with a double. The Red Raiders picked up nine hits in the matchup.
“Yeah, he did good,” Ibia said of Prem’s offensive performance. “Everything’s good. We’re getting better. We’re in good shape.”
Ibia said if he was the home-team coach, he would have pushed for the game to continue, but if his squad scored in the top of the eighth and then the game was called, the runs would have been taken away.
“It was getting dark.”
Waimea Head Coach Michael Rita could not be reached for comment.
The tie sets the stage for the double-header meeting between these two teams on April 18 at Vidinha Stadium, starting at 10 a.m.
Before that, Kaua‘i hosts Kapa‘a in a twin bill this Saturday starting at 10 a.m. at Vidinha Stadium, and Waimea hosts Kapa‘a in a single game, next Wednesday at Hanapepe Stadium starting at 3:30 p.m.
Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com Paul C. Curtis, sports writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 237) or pcurtis@kauaipubco.com
