Kamehameha baseball routs Punahou to earn spot in states

The Kamehameha Warriors are Maui bound.

Kaena Kiakona pitched five scoreless innings and Miecah Andres drove in four runs, tripled and doubled as No. 3 Kamehameha overwhelmed No. 4 Punahou 10-0 in six innings on a cool, cloudy Thursday afternoon at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park.

The win clinched a state-tournament berth for the Warriors. The Division I state championships will be held at War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku on May 4-7.

“Really, as a program, that’s our goal every year,” Kamehameha coach Daryl Kitagawa said. “I’ve only been here a little while. We’ve been blessed this year to get there. I’m really happy for the kids — it’s all a credit to them. My assistant coaches, administration, everybody involved for their support.”

Kamehameha (16-5-2 overall) was the runner-up in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu regular season behind Saint Louis. In the ongoing double-elimination tournament, Kamehameha is the only remaining unbeaten team. The win over Punahou guarantees a finish of second place or higher for the Warriors.

‘Iolani kept its hopes alive with a win over Saint Louis on Thursday.

“Whoever wins this tournament is automatically in (states). ‘Iolani, Punahou are still alive,” Kitagawa noted. “There’s still a lot of baseball to be played.”

Kiakona, a 6-foot southpaw, scattered four hits and got out of bases-loaded jams in the third and fourth innings. The senior struck out four, walked two, and hit two batters.

“I didn’t really have my best breaking stuff early, but kind of found it later in the game. In the pen, my fastball was working, so we just kind of relied on that for the first few innings,” Kiakona said.

It was his slider, affectionately called “Snap Dragon,” that tantalized and frustrated Punahou batters.

“I got the release point down. Executed that pitch at the right time,” Kiakona said. “And obviously, Beau (Sylvester) behind the plate, framing everything really well.”

Andres was a spark in Kamehameha’s 15-hit attack. He smacked a two-run opposite-field double to right in the first inning, an RBI single in the second, an RBI groundout in the fourth and a triple in the sixth. He scored the 10th and final run to end the game via mercy rule.

“Man, it’s amazing. It was our goal since the beginning. We put in the work. We put in the hours,” Andres said. “I think we’re ready. We’re not satisfied yet.”

Sylvester drove in two runs and scored two. His sacrifice bunt in the first inning set up Andres’ big double and set the tone. The senior catcher predicted from the start of the season that the Warriors would go far and win a state title.

“It’s kind of expected. I said at the beginning of the season we’re going to do something. Clinching states like this, second spot, I believe, it’s huge,” Sylvester said. “Every game now is better than the last.”

The Warriors had a roller-coaster ride at times through ILH play, particularly with inconsistent hitting, but the hits keep coming during the tourney.

“Credit to the kids for buying in to what we’re trying to teach. Shortening up a little bit, not getting so big. We had a lot of two-strike hits today,” Kitagawa said.

Elijah Ickes reached base on a throwing error to begin the bottom of the first inning. After Aydan Lobetos walked and Sylvester advanced the baserunners with a sacrifice bunt, Punahou starting pitcher Rustin Katsura retired Aukai Kea on a pop fly.

With two outs, Andres smacked his double, scoring Ickes and Lobetos for a 2-0 Kamehameha lead.

Punahou had runners at the corners with two outs in the top of the second after a wild pitch by Kiakona. The runner at first base, Jacob Ornelles, played cat-and-mouse on the basepath while Justin Tsukada stayed near the third-base bag.

Kiakona fired the ball to second baseman Pono Nakano, who chased down Ornelles and tagged him before Tsukada scored, ending the inning.

Kamehameha exploded with five runs in the bottom of the second frame. Dane Palimo‘o led off with a single, but Cody Branco grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Nakano and Ickes singled, setting up an RBI single by Lobetos, scoring Nakano from third base.

Sylvester then ripped a shot to left field, scoring Ickes and Lobetos for a 5-0 Warriors lead.

Kea stepped in and doubled to left, scoring Sylvester for a six-run cushion. Andres’ single to center plated Kea for a 7-0 lead.

The Buffanblu chipped away in the top of the third, loading the bases. With Cody Oshiro (bunt single) at third base, Cody Kashimoto (single) at second and Kaikea Harrison (hit by pitch) at first with two outs, Kiakona induced Joey Wilson into an inning-ending groundout to second base.

In the top of the fourth, Kila Kaniho singled, Ornelles walked and pinch hitter Jacob Harris walked to load the sacks with one out, but Nolan Souza grounded into a forceout at second to end the threat.

In the bottom of the fourth, Kamehameha tacked on two more runs against Punahou’s second pitcher, Stryker Scales. Sylvester was hit by pitch, and after Kea’s foul pop was dropped near the Punahou dugout, he doubled to center.

Andres’ grounder to short brought Sylvester’s courtesy runner, Jayden Montero, home for an 8-0 lead.

Jace Souza then singled to left, scoring Kea.

In the bottom of the sixth, Andres tripled to right-center against Laa Salvani with one out, then scored on a single up the middle by Souza.

‘Iolani 7, Saint Louis 4

The Raiders scored in four innings to keep their season alive by eliminating the regular-season champion Crusaders in the ILH double-elimination tournament on Thursday.

Travis Ujimori had two hits and scored twice and Bruin Agbayani worked three walks and scored two runs for the Raiders (7-11), who despite finishing 4-10 in the regular season, can secure a state-tournament berth with a win over Punahou on Saturday.

The No. 4-seed Buffanblu and sixth-seeded Raiders play Saturday at 10 a.m. at Ala Wai Field.

Kaleb Tenn allowed one earned run in 41⁄3 innings to earn the win and Izack Takazawa threw 22⁄3 scoreless innings.

Saint Louis will play the winner of the tournament in a playoff for the ILH title.