KAPAA — Kapaa High School’s varsity baseball team won its home opener against Waimea, 8-5, in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. “We’re still making too many mistakes. We still got a lot to work on,” said Warriors head coach
KAPAA — Kapaa High School’s varsity baseball team won its home opener against Waimea, 8-5, in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader.
“We’re still making too many mistakes. We still got a lot to work on,” said Warriors head coach Bryan Aiwohi. “We got a young team, but it’s no excuse. We’re still building. We got to work on that.”
Kapaa scored seven runs in the first two innings.
Warriors starting pitcher, sophomore Chayse Basuel, hit an inside-the-park home run to center field in the second inning for two RBIs. Sophomore infielder Kade Kupihea also scored in the play.
Basuel had another RBI off a single to left field in the fourth inning.
“It felt good, but coming around second I was kind of tired,” Basuel said about the home run. “Two-strike count, it was kind of scary. (I had to) just sit back and drive them.”
Aiwohi said about the early offensive surge: “I just told our boys to be ready to take advantage of any mistakes that they make. Anytime a team makes mistakes, you got to jump on it. That’s how we got ahead.”
Waimea scored three runs in the third inning to cut the deficit to 7-4. Junior infielder Waika Corr smacked a single to left field for an RBI. A Warriors error brought in another run for the Menehune in the play.
Sophomore starting pitcher Keaka Wisneski and sophomore courtesy runner Corey Agena scored the runs off Corr’s hit.
“After my first at bat, I was like, ‘All right, this guy has an all right fast ball. So, I just got to get my timing down for that,’” Corr said of his two RBI hit. “Sure enough, he came again with the fast ball. It was inside. I just pulled it, and it just did its thing.”
Waimea scored one more run in the seventh inning and could have possibly scored more with the bases loaded and only one out. Two consecutive hit batters helped the Menehune get runners on.
Menehune freshman infielder Lacin Montemayor hit into a double play to end the game.
“Our offense, we’re doing OK. We’re being aggressive. We’re finally starting to settle down our bats. Our kids are understanding the terminology,” said Menehune head coach Larry Ephan. “They’re starting to see the bigger picture.”
Hit batters were an issue for both teams in the game. Waimea hit three batters. Kapaa hit five batters.
“Too many walks and a lot of hit batsmen. And a lot of them came with two outs. We get two quick outs, and then we don’t know how to finish,” Ephan said. “That’s something we’ll continue to work on until we settle down and play Waimea baseball.”
Kapaa got its eight runs on five hits and recorded five errors. Waimea got its five runs also off five hits and had three errors.
“I feel that we’re a better team than what we just showed. It’s just a matter of those guys getting a little bit more focused, and make the plays we need to make. And we should be fine,” Aiwohi said. “Hopefully, they’ll learn from it.”
Kapaa also won the second game of Saturday’s twin bill, 10-1.
The Warriors got their 10 runs off 13 hits and committed five errors. The Menehune had two hits and two errors.
Kapaa (2-2 KIF) will host Kauai High (3-0 KIF) at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Waimea (0-3 KIF) will play Kauai High for a doubleheader Saturday at Vidinha Stadium in Lihue. The first game will begin at 10 a.m.
