Senior Ashlyn Kaneshiro hurled a three-hit shutout, and Hilo’s defense made two early runs stand up as the Vikings stunned five-time defending Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I champion Waiakea 2-0 Tuesday at Waiakea. Senior Ashlyn Kaneshiro hurled a three-hit
Senior Ashlyn Kaneshiro hurled a three-hit shutout, and Hilo’s defense made two early runs stand up as the Vikings stunned five-time defending Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I champion Waiakea 2-0 Tuesday at Waiakea.
Keaau (12-4) will host Hilo (12-4) at 3 p.m. Thursday in the BIIF championship game. The winner claims a berth in the Hawaii High School Athletic Association state tournament, which takes place May 2-5 at Honolulu’s Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. The loser will host the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s No. 6 seed at 1 p.m. Saturday for a state tourney berth.
Kaneshiro, a right-hander who had lost twice to Waiakea earlier this season, turned in the best pitching performance of her high school career.
From her first pitch until her last in a nail-biting pitchers’ duel with Waiakea ace Chelsea Camello, Kaneshiro was in a comfortable zone, mixing fastballs and a highly effective change-up to keep the dangerous Warriors (13-3) off balance.
“Our defense played extremely well today,” Hilo coach Leo Sing Chow said. “But it all started with Ashlyn and how she pitched. I’m proud of her. She really focused, and anytime she felt the pressure, she’d step back and then go back to throwing strikes. She never lost focus all day.”
Sing Chow said Saturday’s 12-1 loss to Waiakea took the pressure off the Vikings and clearly planted it on the shoulders of the Warriors.
“Today, we won as a team and played with heart,” said Sing Chow, a former University of Hawaii at Hilo standout. “We asked everyone to leave everything they’ve got on the field and if you do, you’d be a winner no matter the final result. We asked them to try to play to their potential and dive for balls on defense — and today, they surprised themselves because they came up with some plays that we haven’t been making.”
One of the Viking web gems came in the bottom of the first inning. Brandi Maximo and Kawehi Granito-Wallace had back-to-back singles to put Warriors at first and second base with slugger Skyler Agrigado at the plate. Agrigado then ripped a hard-hit grounder toward the gap between shortstop and third base, looking like a sure base hit. But Hilo shortstop Fantacie Keahilihau-Kuamoo dove to her right and snagged the ball before tossing the ball to third baseman Seini Nau to force out Maximo.
Kaneshiro got senior Anela Granito-Wallace to pop out to extinguish the Warrior scoring threat.
In the top of the second, the Vikings plated their first run. Keahilihau-Kuamoo reached on an infield single and raced to second on Raven Hall’s sacrifice bunt. Keahilihau-Kuamoo, one of the top athletes in the BIIF, then stole third before Caitlyn Price walked. Nau then bunted and Keahilihau-Kuamoo sprinted home on a high throw to first base on the play to give Hilo a 1-0 lead.
The Vikings extended their lead in the top of the third, when Ashlyn Kaneshiro singled to center with one out and motored to second base on Aliesa Kaneshiro’s sacrifice bunt. Keahilihau-Kuamoo then crushed a ground ball to the right side that a Waiakea infielder couldn’t snag, and Ashlyn Kaneshiro scored to make it 2-0.
Kaneshiro gave up a single to Agrigado in the third but didn’t allow a hit the rest of the game.
The Warriors then went 1-2-3 in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. In the final inning with one out, Ishael Shaw-DeMello walked and Camello stepped to the plate, hoping to keep the rally alive. But when Camello ripped a line drive to the right side, Price, the Viking first baseman, caught the bullet and stepped on first to complete a game-ending double play.
The Vikings quickly celebrated the huge win while the Warriors walked off the field with tears in their eyes.
“We made the mistakes, they didn’t,” Waiakea coach Bo Saiki said in summing up the loss.
Kaneshiro got the win, striking out five and walking one.
Camello took the loss, allowing four hits while striking out three and walking three.
For Hilo, Ashlyn Kaneshiro had two hits while Keahilihau-Kuamoo and Higa-Gonsalves each added an infield single. Higa-Gonsalves, a quick-footed sophomore, was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
Agrigado, Maximo and Kawehi Granito-Wallace each had singles for Waiakea.
Ashlyn Kaneshiro called the win “a team effort.”
“We played with a lot of intensity,” she said. “Everybody had a different attitude today, and we believed we could win. Our goal is to reach the states.”
Hilo 011 000 0 — 2 4 2
Waiakea 000 000 x — 0 2 2
