HONOLULU — Bronson Pulgados continued his hot hitting and tried his best to carry Kamehameha-Hawaii on his back, but he eventually ran out of opportunities at the plate.
HONOLULU — Bronson Pulgados continued his hot hitting and tried his best to carry Kamehameha-Hawaii on his back, but he eventually ran out of opportunities at the plate.
The junior third baseman went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, but top seed Waimea neutralized that performance with a six-run third inning and beat the Warriors 9-4 in the semifinals of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II state baseball tournament on Thursday at Les Murakami Stadium.
Kamehameha (13-6) will play Maryknoll (8-9-1), the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion, at 8:30 a.m. today for third place.
Pulgados went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in an 8-3 first-round victory over Kalaheo. His bat remained full of hits a day later.
In the first inning, Pulgados got stuck in an 0-2 hole and fouled off two pitches before belting a two-run single to left. In the fifth, he singled up the middle, and he had a run-scoring single to left in the ninth.
“My swing is going good. I go for line drives, put the ball in play and make the defense work,” he said. “I keep my swing flat and don’t get under the ball. I just keep my eye on the ball and put it in play.
“The state experience is good. There’s a lot of competition here. Our team has a lot of heart and talent. We help each other to get better. We should be back at states next year.”
The Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion and fourth-seeded Warriors, and Kauai Interscholastic Federation champion Waimea know each other well.
The Menehune outlasted Kamehameha 11-10 for the state title in 2010. The teams split a pair of preseason games this season.
The Warriors were on the verge of exacting a measure of revenge, leading 3-2 heading into the fourth. But starting pitcher Pono Correa turned his ankle on the bases an inning earlier, and the game took a turn for the worse, when Nainoa Hart entered in relief.
Waimea (10-5) took advantage of two errors and two walks, scoring six runs on three hits. Two straight squeeze bunts and a double steal of home highlighted the inning. The Menehune had three steals and finished 6-of-7 in stolen-base attempts.
“We had one poor inning. Unfortunately, we didn’t play bunt defense well,” Kamehameha coach Andy Correa said. “That’s what good teams do. They put pressure on you.”
At the time, the decision to go to Hart was an easy one. In the preseason, he pitched a complete game in a 7-2 win over the Menehune.
Correa got a no-decision in three innings. The senior right-hander allowed two runs, one unearned, on four hits. He walked two and struck out two.
Hart took the loss. In 1 1/3 innings, he surrendered six runs, three earned, on two hits. He walked two and struck out one.
Pulgados was Kamehameha’s most effective pitcher. He made four appearances during the BIIF season. But his lack of mound time was no hindrance. In 2 2/3 scoreless innings, he yielded a hit and three walks, whiffing one.
No one else paired hits for the Warriors, who made frequent contact and struck out just three times, all against starter and winning pitcher BJ Freitas, who tossed five innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He walked four.
In the eight-team Division II tourney, no one has a first-round bye, so no team has the extra-day pitching edge. It’s an equal pitching matchup all around. The Warriors and Menehune used their aces in first-round wins.
With a seemingly comfortable 9-3 cushion, Waimea brought in Job Delos Santos in the bottom of the fifth, but after recording an out, he walked two batters and was yanked for ace Mikeo Rita, who pitched five innings in a 5-1 win over Waialua on Wednesday.
Rita went 1 2/3 innings to close the game, but he gave up three hits, including an RBI single to Pulgados in the ninth.
“Bronson has been hitting the ball well. He finally figured out how to hit behind in the count,” Correa said. “I’m happy what he did in this tourney.
“Overall, I’m very happy what the boys did this season. I’m pleased with the outcome, regardless of one game. That doesn’t affect what we did this season.”
The Warriors lose five senior starters in catcher Keanu Dudoit-Isa, first baseman Gideon Kalili, ace pitcher Kaimana Moike, second baseman/pitcher Pono Correa and Hart, a right fielder/pitcher.
“We’ve got Kupono Decker, Chay Toson, Chad Teshima to pitch. We’ll be OK,” Kamehameha coach Correa said. “We return 11 guys. We have some work to do.
“We’ve got a good nucleus of juniors and sophomores. The main thing is they’re hard-working and have good attitudes. If you work hard, then good things can happen.”
Waimea 101 610 0 — 9 8 2
KS-Hawaii 210 000 1 — 4 8 6
c Konawaena 10, No. 3 Seabury Hall 7: Domonic Morris hit a three-run homer, and Jarrett Kitaoka added a two-run single in a seven-run inning for BIIF runner-up Konawaena in the fifth-place bracket semifinals at Oahu’s Hans L’Orange Field.
The Wildcats (13-3) will play Oahu Interscholastic Association No. 3 seed Waialua (8-7) in today’s 9 a.m. fifth-place game at Hans L’Orange Field.
Morris and Kitaoka, who pitched four innings to get the win, finished with three RBIs.Morris and Evyn Yamaguchi both went 2-for-3 in a game shortened by the tourney’s two-hour time limit.
Slayde Omura and Travis Mrantz each had two hits for the Spartans, who finished their season 7-3.
Kaleb Palmer took the loss.
Seabury Hall 312 10 — 7 7 4
Konawaena 072 10 — 10 7 2