Down early, team pulls victory with late rally The Americans of Japanese Ancestry baseball league swung back into action Sunday, Jan. 21 at Vidinha Stadium. January 14 game were cancelled due to poor weather. On Sunday, Lihu’e got the best
Down early, team pulls victory with late rally
The Americans of Japanese Ancestry baseball league swung back into action Sunday, Jan. 21 at Vidinha Stadium. January 14 game were cancelled due to poor weather.
On Sunday, Lihu’e got the best of Makaweli, 16-8, while Hanapepe was three better than Kalaheo, 10-7.
Lihu’e 16, Makaweli 8
Blaine Tsukayama pounded out two hits and recorded three RBI to pace Lihu’e to victory. Mikey Cardinez struck out four and yielded no runs in picking up the win in relief of starting pitcher Scott Oshima.
Makaweli’s Scott Shimabukuro gave up six runs in 2 2/3 innings to pick up the loss. Though he wasn’t alone. Mike Shimatsu, Royce Ijima and Russel Nakata all took the mound at one time for Makaweli.
In addition to Tsukayama, Barry Kawamura also provided from the plate for Lihu’e, registering three hits and two RBI. Ahren Kaneshiro hit a triple, a single and scored three runs. Oshima hit two singles and had two RBI.
Nakata and Brandon Ishibashi were the big bats for Makaweli. The former hit a double, a single and had three RBI, while the latter hit a triple and a single and recorded two RBI.
Ijima hit a single and scored three runs.
Hanapepe 10, Kalaheo 7
Defending AJA champion Hanapepe was in trouble early.
Kalaheo scored three first-inning runs on hits by Troy Kaneshiro, Liko Periera and Casey Oketani. The team then increased its lead in the third inning with four runs on errors and bases-loaded walks.
But the champion responded in its half of the third when Kelly Robinson came home on a Scott Suga basehit and Lenn Nitta scored on a Nolan Albarado basehit. Albarado then came home on a Wendall Nonaka home run. Kalaheo’s lead shrunk to 7-4.
Robinson then took the mound in the fourth inning in relief of Buddy Taniguchi and shut Kalaheo out for the remainder of the game. He picked up the win.
Hanapepe officially took the lead for good in the fifth inning when Nonaka scored on a Kalaheo throwing error.
Nonaka ended with a home run, a double, a single, three RBI and three runs scored. Nitta had two hits and scored two runs. Robinson and Albarado each singled and scored two runs. Scott Suga, Levi Maeda and Clifford Matsusaka each singled and scored a run.
For Kalaheo, Pereira ended with a double, two singles, an RBI and a run scored. Casey Iketani had a single and a RBI. Troy Kaneshiro, Kaina McCallum and Palani Bukoski each singled and scored a run.
McCallum picked up the loss for Kalaheo.
AJA League Standings
Team W L T
Hanapepe 2 0 0
Lihu’e 2 0 0
Kalaheo 0 1 0
Kapa’a 0 1 0
Makaweli 0 2 0
Sunday, Jan. 21 Results
Lihu’e 16, Makaweli 8
Hanapepe 10, Kalaheo 7
Sunday, Jan. 28 Schedule
at Vidinha Stadium
Kalaheo vs. Kapa’a, 9:30 a.m.
at Hanapepe Baseball Stadium
Hanapepe vs. Lihu’e, 9:30 a.m.
