KAPA‘A — The Waimea High School Menehune could not have finished the first half of the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation season any better than it did Thursday at Ron Martin Field in Kapa‘a. The Menehune scratched and clawed its way to
KAPA‘A — The Waimea High School Menehune could not have finished the first half of the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation season any better than it did Thursday at Ron Martin Field in Kapa‘a.
The Menehune scratched and clawed its way to a 3-1 win a day after the scheduled game was supposed to take place.
By no means was this a perfect game for either team, Kapa‘a shot itself in the foot early in the second inning committing three errors, which would lead to two Waimea runs.
Although Kapa‘a starter Nick Tabura was not as sharp as he has been, he still gave up just one earned run in three innings of work, and struck out two. Rashan Kuhaulua would come in relief to finish up the game throwing four inning and allowing no runs on three hits.
Kuhaulua, through six games, has an ERA of 0.97 and 25 strikeouts in 21 2/3 innings. Tabura has hung right with him posting a first half ERA of 0.98, an impressive set of numbers.
Waimea capitalized on the Warrior mistakes, which the Menehune has done all season.
“We talk about it as a team,” said Waimea Head Coach Michael Rita. “We got to take advantage of mistakes, because we are not hitting, and again, if they make mistakes and we score one run, 1-0 is a win.”
On the flip side, Kapa‘a has been in some of its toughest battles with the Menehune, and if not for some small things, Kapa‘a could have easily been on the other side of these games.
“We just came out flat,” Head Coach Bryan Aiwohi. “We need to make some adjustments on defense, a lot of mental stuff we need to work on. I think there is some kind of mental block with these kids not thinking they can beat Waimea.”
Waimea’s offense at times has been stagnant, an area that Rita has harped on since the start of the season, which wasn’t helped by the Menehune base running Thursday. Waimea was picked off four times in the game.
“We need to work on our offense and base running,” Rita said. “We got picked off a lot of times today, but really our bats need to start coming alive.”
Although B.J. Freitas did not start the game for Waimea, he ended up throwing all seven innings and gave up no earned runs.
Freitas holds a 0.71 ERA on the season in nearly 30 innings.
Kapa‘a’s lone run came in the bottom of the fourth inning when a Brock Ephan throwing error allowed Keola Lutz to score from third. Lutz finished the day 1 for 2 with a single.
Keola Lutz leads all of KIF with a .438 batting average and is tied for the lead with seven hits. Kapa‘a’s Chaz Pacleb and A.J. Cummings also have seven hits, with Pacleb hitting .389 and Cumming .333, who are second and third in the KIF.
Waimea’s offense was led by Wyatt Taniguchi, who finished 2 for 3 with an RBI and two singles.
If Kapa‘a is going to get over its hurdle of the Menehune, it must start doing the small things with more efficiency. A point that Aiwohi plans to focus on.
“I think we gave them all three games,” Aiwohi said. “I mean (Waimea) is good, but they are beatable, not to take anything away from them. They took advantage of our mistakes. Its those little things that make the difference, and we need to figure out how to beat them by doing those things.”
