LIHU‘E — The Waimea Menehune got off to a good start in Saturday’s baseball doubleheader, but the Kaua‘i Red Raiders came back in the afternoon to come away with a split and a potential playoff to determine a first-round champion.
LIHU‘E — The Waimea Menehune got off to a good start in Saturday’s baseball doubleheader, but the Kaua‘i Red Raiders came back in the afternoon to come away with a split and a potential playoff to determine a first-round champion.
Waimea pitcher Shylen Keuma went four innings for the victory in the Menehune’s 14-9 win in Game 1.
The Menehune were patient early and aggressive late, coming up with two runs in each of the first two innings, then exploding for four and six runs in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.
Waimea was led at the dish by Kaimana Perreira-Alquiza, who went 2 for 4 with a triple, three RBIs and three runs scored.
Paul Correa was 2 for 4 with four big RBIs, while Keuma knocked in three runs.
Kalani Fernandez scored twice and drove one in for Waimea, which totaled 10 hits.
For Kaua‘i, Taran Tani took the loss, seeing five runs (four earned) cross the plate in his 1/3 of an inning on the mound.
Hank Ibia was 2 for 2 and scored three times for the Raiders.
Kellen Aquino went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Lanan Rice-Kashima was 3 for 4 with an RBI.
Kaua‘i had 13 hits in the ballgame.
After falling behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning of Game 2, Kaua‘i stormed back and took command with six runs — all coming with two outs — in the bottom half.
After groundouts by Dalston Miyasato and Ibia, Aquino got on with a walk.
Freshman Cody Juarez came through with a double, followed by an RBI single for Jamen Kealoha-Albarado.
The next three batters, Travis Koga, Jensen Koga and Austin Oshiro, all walked to keep the merry-go-round in working order, until a base hit by Tani made it 6-3 in Kaua‘i’s favor, before the Menehune made the third out to end the frame.
Waimea chipped back with one run in the second to make it a 6-4 ballgame, but Kaua‘i scored once in the bottom of the fourth on Waimea miscues, taking advantage of two errors and a wild pitch.
Dylan Ishihara led off the sixth with a double for Waimea and was driven in three batters later on a Perreira-Alquiza single to make the score 7-5.
Kaua‘i added its insurance runs in the bottom half, getting going with a Miyasato leadoff single. Ibia replaced him at first after an unsuccessful bunt attempt and advanced when Aquino reached on an error.
Kealoha-Albarado knocked a bloop single into shallow center, scoring Ibia. Erin Doi then beat out a slow grounder for an infield hit, which scored Aquino, creating the 9-5 margin.
Kaua‘i got Waimea in order in the top of the seventh to claim the win.
The Raiders (4-2) hold a half-game lead over the Menehune (3-2).
Waimea takes on Kapa‘a (1-4), Wednesday afternoon at Hanapepe Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
A Waimea win would force a playoff with Kaua‘i to determine a first-round champion. A Kapa‘a win gives the first round to the Raiders.
