KAPA‘A — With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Lihu‘e’s Travis Koga drove in two runs to give Lihu‘e a 7-5 victory over Waimea Sunday. Kai DelaCruz and Taran Tani both drew walks to first off Kalama
KAPA‘A — With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Lihu‘e’s Travis Koga drove in two runs to give Lihu‘e a 7-5 victory over Waimea Sunday.
Kai DelaCruz and Taran Tani both drew walks to first off Kalama Resquer-Yorkman who relieved Ioane Toyofuku on the mound for Waimea, and a single from Shea Shimabukuro set the stage for the comeback.
Koga smacked into his offering and combined with Waimea miscues, DelaCruz and Tani both crossed the plate for the Lihu‘e go-ahead.
Waimea went down with three straight strike-outs from the Lihu‘e closer, Trey Shimabukuro, in the top of the seventh to end the tight contest at the New Kapa‘a Ball Park.
Both teams opened with runs on miscues as Waimea got its opening mark from Resquer-Yorkman in the first inning. That run was answered in the bottom of the frame when Koga scored off a Bluejay error for the 1-1 tie.
After Lihu‘e starting pitcher Taran Tani shut down the Jays in order, including a double play executed by shortshop Trey Shimabukuro, the blackshirts pushed three runs across in the bottom of the second.
Trey, singling to open Lihu‘e’s at-bat, crossed on an RBI from Kent Nuivo who went on to score on a bang from Tani for the 4-1 bulge. DelaCruz, singling to left field, joined Kent across the plate.
Waimea pulled closer in the fourth inning as Dylan Ishihara scored off a pickoff attempt at third base that went off into left.
Still chasing two runs in the sixth inning, the Jays started the fireworks as Toyofuku, hit by a pitch, loaded the bags. Resquer-Yorkman broke through on a squeeze play followed by Ishihara going airborne on a score that saw the ball pop free from Koga’s glove to deadlock the contest 4-4.
But the Jays were not done, yet. With one away, catcher Tanner Fernandez roped an RBI to drive Toyofuku across the plate for the 5-4 nod before the Lihu‘e defense settled down and closed the frame.
Lihu‘e next travels to the Anne Knudsen Park Thursday for a match against Koloa starting at 4:15 p.m.
At the Hanapepe park, Waimea will meet Hanapepe while Kalawai travels to the Kekaha field for a match against Kekaha.
All games start at 4:15 p.m.
