Nick Fukunaga threw four innings of no-hit ball, and Hilo blanked Pahoa 18-0 to open the Big Island Interscholastic Federation baseball season on Wednesday at Wong Stadium. Nick Fukunaga threw four innings of no-hit ball, and Hilo blanked Pahoa 18-0
Nick Fukunaga threw four innings of no-hit ball, and Hilo blanked Pahoa 18-0 to open the Big Island Interscholastic Federation baseball season on Wednesday at Wong Stadium.
The game ended after five innings because of the league’s 10-run mercy rule.
Drew Kell completed the combined no-hitter for Hilo, which exploded for 12 runs in the first inning and added six runs over the next three innings.
Makana Josue-Maa had four hits, and Tyler Higa-Gonsalves added three hits to lead the Vikings, the BIIF Division I runner-up last season. Hilo finished with 17 hits.
Dathan Wong Chong took the loss for the Division II Daggers, who are playing all their games on the road.
Pahoa coach Scott Salfren is crossing his fingers that the school’s home field will be ready next season.
“Next year, it looks like we’ll get our field back,” he said. “The future is looking bright for Pahoa. It’ll be nice to have home games, so the parents and the kids at school can watch the team play next year.
“We’ve got a roster of 15, which is manageable. It’s enough to get guys in and not too big to have guys sitting around. We’re really young and inexperienced. We’ve got one kid who played t-ball and coach-pitch, and a lot of sophomores.”
Wong Chong is the Dagger with experience. Salfren also likes the potential of utility player Zack Noll and third baseman/outfield Crimson Abilla, and first baseman/pitcher Mark Gouveia, who also pitched against Hilo.
“We don’t have a lot of kids who have played baseball, but it’s a nice group of kids,” Salfren said. “They’ve got good attitudes and good hearts.”
