LIHU‘E — The Lihu‘e Mustang All-Stars came away with a 13-12 win despite a six-run sixth inning by the West Kaua‘i Mustang All-Stars, Tuesday afternoon. Lihu‘e pitcher Brayden Abreu held West Kaua‘i to no hits through three innings and six
LIHU‘E — The Lihu‘e Mustang All-Stars came away with a 13-12 win despite a six-run sixth inning by the West Kaua‘i Mustang All-Stars, Tuesday afternoon.
Lihu‘e pitcher Brayden Abreu held West Kaua‘i to no hits through three innings and six batters before relinquishing the mound in exhaustion. During his tenure, Abreu gave up no hits, struck out four, including back-to-back whiffs in the first inning, hit two batters and walked four.
At that point, Lihu‘e held a 10-0 advantage before West Kaua‘i capitalized on the Lihu‘e mound replacements to finish with 12 runs on just two hits and two Lihu‘e errors, scoring six runs in the fourth and adding six more runs in the sixth.
Lihu‘e’s offensive showing started early and finished with 13 runs on eight hits, capitalizing on five West Kaua‘i miscues.
Gunner Vallatini finished 2-2 with an RBI and scored three times to lead the Lihu‘e bats. Keala Iwasaki, batting in the ninth slot, finished 1-for-2 with two RBIs and scored once. Patrick Esteban, pinch hitting for Kawasaki in the fourth, was 1-for-1 with a two-RBI single.
Doug Miyasato, 1-for-3, finished with two RBIs and a single, scoring once. Abreu singled, had an RBI and scored twice. Kobey Dias finished 1-for-4 with an RBI. Sam Nakata was 1-for-1 with a single and scored three times.
Alika Ventura and Patrick Traller had the West Kaua‘i hits, Traller finishing with two RBIs in the sixth inning and both hitters scoring twice.
Rolling on a 1-0 lead, Lihu‘e’s biggest inning came in the second when it cranked out five runs on three hits and a pair of WK errors.
Nakata opened the frame after being hit by a pitch and scored on an RBI double to left field by Blaise Gokan. Vallatini followed with a single and with one out, Nick Penzetta drove Gokan home, setting the stage for Miyasato’s two-RBI fielder’s choice, scoring Vallatini and Penzetta. Abreu’s two-bagger to left field drove Miyasato across the plate before WK closed the frame.
West Kaua‘i got aboard in the third with a walk, but Abreu’s move on the mound picked off the runner, the first of two pickoffs in the game.
Lihu‘e continued to hammer, adding four runs on three hits in the third, two runs on two hits in the fourth and got its final run in the fifth when Abreu scored on a WK error trying to pick off the runner at third.
The series continues today when the Lihu‘e Mustang All-Stars travel to Kalawai Park for the second meeting of the best-of-three series.
Should West Kaua‘i win that matchup, a third game will be played Saturday based on a coin flip. If Lihu‘e wins today’s game, it will represent Kaua‘i at the Mustang state tournament.
First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
