KALAHEO — The Lihu‘e all-stars cranked out six runs in the second and added six more in the fifth inning to clinch the Kaua‘i Mustang championship before an overflow crowd at Kalawai Park, Thursday. “They earned it,” Warren Koga, President
KALAHEO — The Lihu‘e all-stars cranked out six runs in the second and added six more in the fifth inning to clinch the Kaua‘i Mustang championship before an overflow crowd at Kalawai Park, Thursday.
“They earned it,” Warren Koga, President of the Lihu‘e Baseball League said following their 15-7 win over the West Kaua‘i all-stars.
“They (the Mustang team) have played in the state tournament before, but this is the first time they earned a seed,” he said while pondering the logistics of their trip to Hilo and the state title that will take place July 2-6.
Utilizing three pitchers, LBL made a concerted effort to get all their players into the field before the end of the game, with the victory being shared by starting pitcher Lucas Gushikuma, Jensen Koga, and Kellen Aquino closing.
West Kaua‘i also went through a stable of three hurlers in an attempt to come back, starting with Taylor Nix, moving to Treston Nakashima, and finishing with Byron Freitas. Alika Emayo, leadoff hitter for West Kaua‘i, made sparks fly with his bat, going 3-3 in the box, and scoring three times, but the performance coming up short.
Emayo and Freitas opened the game with scores only to have Lihu‘e answer with an equalizing pair in the bottom of the frame as Aquino and Christian Mendoza crossed the plate. Aquino, who fueled the Lihu‘e win with four scores, fueled their six-run, four-hit second inning with a two-RBI single that crossed Drake Butac-Smith and Cody Takasaki, Butac-Smith singling, and Takasaki drawing first on a walk from Nix.
Mendoza fueled the six-run fifth with a two-RBI double to score Aquino, who got aboard on an intentional walk, and Koga who earlier scored Collin Pungan, getting first on a West Kaua‘i error.
Trey Smith, who left the game later with a finger injury, provided more fireworks as his two-run homer to left scored Mendoza forcing the third pitching change for WK as Freitas replaced Nakashima.
WK thirdbase Taylor Ephan sparked their two-run fourth with a two-run homer to deep left-center, scoring Kaliko Waahila who got aboard on a Lihu‘e error.
WK added another pair of runs in the fifth frame as Emayo banged a double with one away, and after stealing second and third base, scored on a play that tagged Garrett Beyer. Freitas got aboard on a walk, and following a steal of second, scored on a Jonah Malapit RBI single.
“We knew they were going to come back strong,” Koga said. “This was not going to be a repeat of Tuesday’s game.”
Following Aquino’s showing in the batter’s box, and scoring four times, Mendoza was 4-4. scoring three times.
Koga and Pungan scored twice, with Takasaki and Archie Vallatini each scoring once. Koga said he’s been president of the LBL for three years, and believes that it’s the first Mustang title win in the eight, or nine years since Lihu‘e adopted the Pony Baseball program.
As the medals were presented following the championship game that was marred only briefly by Kalaheo showers that forced a delay, Glenn Ogawa, one of the WK officials congratulated Koga, noting, “They’re ready!”
