WAIMEA — Waimea High School baseball player Evan Yamauchi smacked a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning on Wednesday to trigger a mob of ecstatic blueshirts during the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation baseball game against Kapa‘a at Cook Field in Waimea.
With one away in the bottom of the seventh, the Menehune looked at a 7-6 deficit against Kapa‘a after the Warriors pushed two runs across in the top of the frame.
Menehune Vincent Lizzio singled to left field, followed by Makani Rita doubling to left field with no outs. A Menehune flied to center field for the first blemish before Yamauchi took the batter’s box. He took the third Warrior pitch to clear the field and give Waimea the 8-7 edge.
Kapa‘a, splitting its twinbill opener against Kaua‘i on Saturday, was on the offensive, scoring its first run in the third inning with two out. The lead was brief as Waimea came back in the bottom of the frame to knot the contest at 1-1 when Menehune first base Nobu Yamauchi motored around the paths with an in-the-park home run with two down.
The Warriors broke the seesaw in the sixth when Warrior pitcher Bob Manintin led four runs across the plate for the 5-2 bulge.
Waimea answered in the bottom of the sixth with four runs ahead of the two-run exchanges in the seventh frame that kept spectators glued to the Cook Field until Yamauchi’s conk, his only hit in the game after walking twice and scoring once in the sixth inning.
Waimea racked up its eight runs on 11 hits led by Nobu’s inside-the-park solo homer.
Manintin, handling pitching chores for Kapa‘a, scored three times with two hits recorded. He suffered the loss after giving up 11 hits, striking out six Menehune,and walking three.
According to the KIF schedule, Waimea next plays Kaua‘i High School on Saturday at Vidinha Stadium with the junior varsity contest starting at 3:30 p.m. on a two-hour time limit. The varsity contest is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
Kapa‘a High School enjoys a bye because Island School did not field a baseball team this season.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer can be reached at 808-245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
