KAPA‘A — In a game that finished 14 days after it started, Kapa‘a High School’s Nick Tabura picked up where he left off. He dealt for six innings, surrendering two runs on two hits. The performance helped give the Warriors
KAPA‘A — In a game that finished 14 days after it started, Kapa‘a High School’s Nick Tabura picked up where he left off. He dealt for six innings, surrendering two runs on two hits. The performance helped give the Warriors the win over Waimea and secure the second half win Saturday at Ron Martin Field in Kapa‘a.
The game was originally put on hold due to weather after the top of the third inning with the score tied 0-0 on April 13.
The Warriors didn’t waste time getting on the board. Robert Soares led off the bottom of third with single, which was followed by a Menehune error that put A.J. Cummings on base. Chaz Pacleb hit a soft ground ball to the second baseman, which set the table for Keola Lutz, who smoked a line drive over the head of the Waimea center fielder and Lutz turned it in to a two-run triple to put Kapa‘a up 2-0.
“We knew we had four innings of offense to their three,” said Kapa‘a head coach Bryan Aiwohi. “We felt we had to get runs across early then just let Nick (Tabura) go to work and he did.”
Lutz, a sophomore, finished the season with a league leading .367 average.
Kapa‘a would go on to add to its total by scraping across a run in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, it was Tabura at the plate who drove in a run with an RBI single, then Lutz again in the fifth who drove in a run on a hard-hit ground ball that Waimea could not handle for its final run and a 4-0 lead.
Waimea did get on the board in the top of the sixth inning when Brock Ephan crushed a ball to left with a runner on for a two-run home run to cut the deficit to two.
Ephan finished the regular season hitting .357 with two doubles and two home runs with eight RBIs.
“Overall I think we did all right,” said Waimea head coach Michael Rita. “We made some errors on defense and Brock (Ephan) came through with a big hit, but we just wanted to prep ourselves for Tuesday.”
The Warriors turned to Rashan Kuhaulua in the top of the seventh to shut the door on the Menehune. Kuhaulua faced the minimum of three batters and closed the game for the win and clinched the second round.
With the Kapa‘a win, the two teams agreed not to play the second game that was scheduled as its outcome would not have affected the standings.
Both Waimea and Kapa‘a finished the season with an overall 7-4 record, which will set the stage for Tuesday’s Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation title game between the two clubs.
“We aren’t really anticipating one guy,” Rita said. “We are anticipating for both Tabura and (Kuhaulua), we will prep for both of them and try to score some runs somehow.”
Although the coaches did not want to commit to a starting pitcher, the anticipated pitchers matchup will be between Waimea’s B.J. Freitas and Kapa‘a’s Kuhaulua, arguably the two best pitchers in the KIF this season.
Kuhaulua owns a league best 0.81 ERA while Freitas has a 1.46 ERA, which should prove to provide a nail-biting pitcher’s duel.
“This is what our goal was from the beginning of the season,” Aiwohi said. “To put ourselves in the position to win the championship. Hats off to Waimea and it should be a good game.”
One stat of note is that Kapa‘a’s win on Saturday was its first over the Menehune all season.
The winner will take the KIF baseball title and punch its ticket to the 2013 Wally Yonamine Foundation Baseball Championships on O‘ahu from May 9-11.
• Rick Killeen, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or sports@thegardenisland.com.
