LIHUE – Stanton Yoshimori struck out three, walked one and allowed just one hit to lead Lihue to a 7-0 shutout over the Kalawai Yankees in the Pony League Playoffs Wednesday at Vidinha Stadium. Yoshimori’s wily mound tactics advances Lihue
LIHUE – Stanton Yoshimori struck out three, walked one and allowed just one hit to lead Lihue to a 7-0 shutout over the Kalawai Yankees in the Pony League Playoffs Wednesday at Vidinha Stadium.
Yoshimori’s wily mound tactics advances Lihue to this Sunday’s playoff, which will also be at Vidinha Stadium. A playoff yesterday in Hanapepe determined which team will face Lihue (TBA).
The loss has eliminated the Yankees from championship contention.
Yankee pitcher Jordan Nakaya had a good showing on the mound. He struck out the side in the fourth and amassed six Ks in five innings.
But errors in the outfield proved too much for Kalawai, even with the help of Nakaya’s arm.
Weslyn Masumura was the hot bat for Lihue, driving in four runs on three hits.
He struck in the first for Lihue, knocking in Yoshimori from third with a high-riser to right field.
Lihue notched two more runs in the second inning on a Travis Nakamura bomb to left field, which scored Jett Jasper and Aaron Adachi from first and third.
Moments later, Masumura scored another RBI, this one on a triple to centerfield, to score Yoshimori from second.
Lihue was up 4-0 heading to the third.
Yoshimori and the Lihue defense continued to stifle Yankee production through next few innings, and would have another three-run inning in the fifth.
Masumura notched his third RBI, again driving Yoshimori in for a 5-0 lead. And in the next at bat, Bryson Gonsalves smacked an RBI-double to score Masumura, and he would later find home on a Blaine Kaine RBI-single to right field. Lihue wins 7-0.
