HANAPEPE — Waimea High School’s varsity baseball defeated Kapaa 3-2 Wednesday afternoon at Hanapepe Stadium to get its first win of the year. “First of all, it was just great to get that win,” said Menehune head coach Larry Ephan.
HANAPEPE — Waimea High School’s varsity baseball defeated Kapaa 3-2 Wednesday afternoon at Hanapepe Stadium to get its first win of the year.
“First of all, it was just great to get that win,” said Menehune head coach Larry Ephan. “Kind of forgot what that felt like, but the boys came out here and they performed. So, that was nice.”
With the bases loaded in the sixth and tied at two apiece, Menehune senior infielder Levi Sagucio drew a hit by pitch to bring in the go-ahead run. Junior designated hitter Cody Taniguchi recorded the run.
“I was pretty proud of the way we executed. We had a couple of hit-and-runs that went south, but our bunts we laid down. Base running wasn’t all that good today, but we’re just going to keep on working,” Ephan said.
Kapaa (2-4 KIF) scored its two runs in the first inning. Warriors sophomore catcher Kaenan Lacaden hit a double to left-center field for two RBIs. Sophomore infielders Ekolu Rivera and Leighton Moniz got the runs off Lacaden’s hit.
“They just beat us. That’s all I can say. We made the mistakes, they took advantage of them, and that’s it,” said Kapaa head coach Bryan Aiwohi.
Waimea (1-5 KIF) got a run off a Warriors error in the first inning. The Menehune evened the score in the fourth inning. Freshman outfielder Brennan Perreira hit a single to left field to drive in sophomore infielder Keaka Wisneski from third base.
In the top of the seventh, the Warriors had runners on second and third with two outs. Moniz hit into a ground out for the final out of the game.
“There were, at times, we had runners on. But we couldn’t get the key hits,” Aiwohi said. “That’s baseball. You put the runner in scoring position, but you need to hit to score it. That’s how it works, and we just couldn’t get it.”
Waimea got its three runs off six hits and recorded one error. Perreira was 2-3 at the plate with an RBI. Freshman Reydan Rull was the winning pitcher, coming in relief in the third inning and going 4 2/3 innings and stuck out two.
Kapaa got its two runs off three hits and also had one error. Lacaden was 1-3 with the double for two RBIs. Freshman Kaimi Malina — who started the game at infielder — was the losing pitcher, going a third of an inning in the sixth.
Kapaa will host Kauai High (6-0 KIF) for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 2 to start the season’s second round. The first game will begin at 10 a.m.
Waimea will next play on Wednesday, April 6 at 5:30 p.m. against Kauai at Vidinha Stadium.
