It’s the kind of inning that Keaau might have been victimized by in the past.
It’s the kind of inning that Keaau might have been victimized by in the past.
But in this wacky first week of BIIF baseball, anything goes.
The Cougars needed just one hit to stage a go-ahead four-run rally Thursday, and Justin Quesada threw six strong innings in a 5-1 victory against Hawaii Prep in Waimea.
Keaau has more seniors than it’s had in recent years, but none of them were in high school the last time the Division I Cougars opened the season 2-0.
“We were just talking about that,” assistant coach Blayne Sato said. “I think it’s been since 2008.”
Quesada, a senior, won for the second time in six days, striking out six and allowing three hits and three walks against Ka Makani (1-1), a perennial Division II contender.
“He just pitched a whale of a game,” Sato said.
Quesada finished with two of his team’s three hits, and Keian Kanetani struck out two in a scoreless seventh.
HPA’s Koa Ellis walked to lead off the fourth, moved to third a groundout and a wild pitch, and then tied the game 1-1 on Jonah Hurney’s RBI groundout.
But Keaau struck right back against Cyrus Inglis in the fifth, loading the bases on walks by Derek Kalani and Delvin Ongais-Kilaulani and Keian Kanetani’s bunt, which was ruled a sacrifice. The key play of the game occurred when Anson Kauwe’s grounder plated Kalani, then Ongais-Kilaulani scampered home when HPA catcher Braden Kojima made an error trying to pick a runner straying off second.
Keaau’s only hit in the inning was Riley Costa’s run-scoring ground-rule double.
“We bunted and we forced them to play defense,” Sato said.
The coaching staff’s message after the game: anything can happen
All the staff needed to do was point to Wednesday, when Kohala beat Hilo for the first time since 2006 and Pahoa matched its win total from the previous season with a dramatic win at Honokaa.
“We can’t take anybody for granted,” Sato said.
Inglis suffered from wildness in taking the loss, allowing five runs on one hit and six walks in four innings. Ellis finished with three scoreless innings.
Keaau 010 040 0 – 5 3 0
HPA 000 100 0 –1 3 1
Pahoa 4, Honokaa 3: Down to their last strike Wednesday, Tryson Kenui hit a three-run home run to rally the Daggers on the road.
Kenui also delivered on the mound, pitching a five-hitter with 12 strikeouts.
“He took charge after the first inning,” Pahoa coach Scott Salfen said after his team evened its record at 1-1. “Once he settled down, he had pretty good pace on the ball and was hard to hit.”
Caden Perreira tripled for Honokaa (0-1) and came around to score on the play on an error and finished with two hits, as did Jonathan Charbonneau.
Charbonneau took the loss in relief.
Pahoa 010 000 3– 4 6 2
Honokaa 201 000 0 – 3 5 2