LIHU‘E — Who says superstitions are silly? Sporting the same blond hair they had when they won the 2008 Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Division II baseball championship, the Kaua‘i Red Raiders dominated Pac-Five for the 2011 crown, weathering the
LIHU‘E — Who says superstitions are silly? Sporting the same
blond hair they had when they won the 2008 Hawai‘i High School
Athletic Association Division II baseball championship, the Kaua‘i
Red Raiders dominated Pac-Five for the 2011 crown, weathering the
gloomy weather for an 11-2 win, Saturday at Les Murakami
Stadium.
LIHU‘E — Who says superstitions are silly?
Sporting the same blond hair they had when they won the 2008 Hawai‘i High School Athletic Association Division II baseball championship, the Kaua‘i Red Raiders dominated Pac-Five for the 2011 crown, weathering the gloomy weather for an 11-2 win, Saturday at Les Murakami Stadium.
Kaua‘i (12-4-1) took full advantage of its Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation championship season, following it with three straight wins on O‘ahu to hoist the state trophy.
The No. 2 seeded Raiders piled up 11 runs on 11 hits, while Shea Shimabukuro held Pac-Five (11-6) to just five hits in his complete-game victory.
Third baseman Erin Doi went 2 for 4 with a double, a run scored and three RBIs, hitting out of the fifth spot in the lineup. Normally a leadoff hitter, Doi suffered a nagging hamstring injury late in the regular season and moved down in the order, with big results Saturday.
Leadoff hitter Kellen Aquino went 2 for 3 with a double, three runs scored and an RBI. First baseman Travis Koga went 2 for 3 with two RBIs, while Jensen Koga was 1 for 3 with a pair of runs and two RBIs. Catcher Austin Oshiro went 1 for 3 with two driven in. Stephen Perreira and Dreyke Smith-Butac each were 1 for 2 with a run and courtesy runner Tyrin Texeira scored twice. Shortstop Hank “Kawika” Ibia also scored a run.
Shimabukuro gave up two runs (one earned) in his seven complete innings, did not walk a batter and struck out three, including the final hitter of the game. The Raiders instantly celebrated on the diamond after the swinging strike three, while their coaching staff watched and smiled from the sideline, before joining in on the fun.
Kaua‘i almost missed out on its opportunity to even play in the title game, having to get by Waipahu earlier in the day. The semifinals were postponed to Saturday, due to bad weather all week. The Raiders were holding on to a 2-0 lead until Waipahu scored twice in the top of the seventh inning to even things up.
But Oshiro had the walk-off base knock for Kaua‘i in the bottom half, when he singled to right center, scoring Matt Ebueng from second base and putting Kaua‘i into the second game of what it had hoped would be a doubleheader.
Pitcher Jensen Koga went the full seven innings for the semifinal victory, giving up the two runs on just three Waipahu hits. He walked three and struck out six.
He was also 3 for 4 at the plate, while Travis Koga went 1 for 2 with two runs scored, before the Oshiro-Ebueng duo ended the game in the seventh.
Once they secured their spot in the championship, the Raiders jumped on top-seeded Pac-Five with three runs in the first inning. Oshiro singled to center to plate Aquino for the first run, before Doi laced a double to left field to bring home Texeira. Travis Koga then got caught on the basepaths between first and second, but held his ground long enough for Doi to score from third and give Kaua‘i the early 3-0 lead.
With two on and two out in the top of the third, Travis Koga doubled down the left field line to score both Texeira and Jensen Koga for a 5-0 edge.
Smelling blood, the Raiders picked up the sticks again in the fourth and scored four times. The first two came home on a pair of bases-loaded walks to Jensen Koga and Oshiro, before Doi singled to right field with the bases still full, scoring Jensen Koga and Aquino.
Pac-Five came back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of two Kaua‘i errors. But Shimabukuro limited the damage and held Pac-Five at bay the rest of the day.
The Raiders got two more runs in the top of the seventh, before a 1-2-3 bottom half sent them into celebratory mode.
Jordan Kumasaka got the loss for Pac-Five, throwing the first three full innings, giving up five runs on six hits, walking three and striking out one.
It has been a good week for Shimabukuro, who, a few days prior, was chosen as the KIF Player of the Year. Five other Kaua‘i players made the Baseball All-Star team (see B1 for full team), while Hank Ibia was named Coach of the Year.
The Division I state championship game between Moanalua and Pearl City was scheduled to follow, but it was postponed due to rain and poor field conditions. It is now scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday.
To view or purchase additional photos from Kaua‘i’s win over Pac-Five, go to www.scoringlive.com
