HANAPEPE — The Menehune and Warriors endured through 14 innings of play in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday at Hanapepe Stadium. At the end of it, the Menehune boys won on a walk-off single.
Waimea High School’s varsity baseball team defeated Kapaa High School in that first game, 3-2.
“There’s a lot of things that goes through my head. The biggest thing is do they trust what they’ve been doing up to this point, and how much can we rely on them to do their job?” said Waimea head coach Chad Delanoza. “It was an awesome game. Both teams scrapped. Both teams had their opportunities, and our pitching held up again. A lot of good things for us right now. We’re just trying to get better.”
In the bottom of the 14th inning with a runner on second base and no outs, Menehune outfielder Levi Snowden hit an RBI single to left field to drive in the game-winning run. Courtesy runner Dylan Martin scored the game-winning run on Snowden’s hit.
“There was no outs, so I was planning to bunt. I was planning to get the guy to third,” Snowden said. “I fouled off the first one and took the second one for a strike. Then, I knew I had to swing. And, yeah, I hit it.”
Snowden said of playing in a 14-inning game: “The pitching was good. Just tried to keep playing good defense, keep backing up teammates, and just stay focused.”
Snowden’s walk-off hit was set up by a leadoff double by designated hitter Tysson Unciano.
“I told him to trust what he’s doing. Levi’s a hard worker,” Delanoza said. “As you can see, he doesn’t say much, but he understands what his job is. Sometimes, you just got to lead by performance and less talk. That’s all we can ask of our kids.”
Tied at 1-1 in the ninth inning, Kapaa scored a go-head run on an RBI single to center field by outfielder Levi Cummings, who pitched in relief in the game.
Waimea evened the score in the bottom of the ninth when infielder Max Ham crossed home plate on a Warriors error.
The Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on an RBI double by Cummings. The Menehune tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single by infielder Lacin Montemayor.
“You just got to keep battling. You got to keep working your strategy, and hopefully it comes through,” said Kapaa head coach Bryan Aiwohi of the long game. “We had some key hits, but couldn’t capitalize. Or, we did capitalize but then we gave it back. It’s just a back and forth thing. It was a good game.”
In the first game Saturday, Waimea totaled three runs on 10 hits, left 13 runners on base and recorded one error.
Unciano pitched in relief and got the win for Waimea. In six innings, Unciano gave up one run on five hits and had three strikeouts and two walks. Starting pitcher Kainalu Lazaro went eight innings, gave up one run on three hits and got six strikeouts, three walks and one hit-by-pitch.
Snowden was 2-7 with an RBI single. Montemayor was 2-6 with an RBI single.
Kapaa got two runs on eight hits, left 10 runners on base and recorded two errors.
Cummings took the loss in relief. In eight innings, Cummings gave up two runs on five hits and had six strikeouts and one walk. Starter Ka‘eo Kamau went six innings, gave up a run on five hits and had eight strikeouts — including striking out Waimea’s first four batters — two walks and two hit-by-pitches.
Cummings ended 3-6 with an RBI double and an RBI single. Infielder Caden Shimabukuro was 2-6 with a double.
In the second game Saturday, Kapaa beat Waimea, 3-0.
Kapaa got three runs on seven hits, left seven runners on base and had zero errors. Ka‘imi Malina was the winning pitcher. He gave up two hits and got eight strikeouts in a complete game.
Waimea had no runs on two hits, left six runners on base and had zero errors. Ham took the loss in the second game.
Waimea (2-1 KIF) will host Kauai (0-1-1 KIF) at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hanapepe Stadium.
Kapaa (1-1-1 KIF) will play against Kauai in a doubleheader Saturday at Vidinha Stadium. The first game is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
