For at least one day, Honokaa coach Wesley Fujimoto wishes the dimensions at Honokaa Park weren’t as deep as they are. If so, the Dragons might have had a thrilling comeback Tuesday. ADVERTISING For at least one day, Honokaa coach
For at least one day, Honokaa coach Wesley Fujimoto wishes the dimensions at Honokaa Park weren’t as deep as they are. If so, the Dragons might have had a thrilling comeback Tuesday.
As it was, Hilo was able to exhale.
Zoe Cabarloc overcame 12 hits allowed in a complete game, and eight Vikings had at least one hit as they held off Honokaa 5-4.
Trailing by two runs entering the bottom of the seventh, the Dragons’ Neve Ebreo-Castillo doubled and scored on Taylor Tabucbuc’s single. With runners on first and second and two outs, Maluhia Sanchez put a charge into the ball, but it was caught just short of the fence at Honokaa Park.
“If we had 200-foot fences, I think it would have been gone,” Honokaa coach Wesley Fujimoto said. “It’s about 215-220 here. The outfielders were playing deep.”
That helped the Vikings (3-1) rebound from their first loss since 2013. They lost 16-2 at Konawaena on Saturday.
Hilo’s Shalyn Guthier finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run scored, and Gaylynn Ha was 2 for 3 with a triple a run scored and an RBI. Cabarloc struck out three.
Keesha Matsuoka didn’t walk a batter in going the distance for the Dragons (1-3), striking out two.
Tabucbuc led Honokaa’s 12-hit attack, finishing 3 for 4 with a double, RBI and scoring a run. Sarah Sedillo and Ebreo-Castillo each doubled among their two hits.
“We improved a lot since Saturday,” said Fujimoto, whose team was coming off a 18-0 loss to Keaau.
Hilo 100 220 0– 5 10 3
Honokaa 000 201 1 –4 12 2
Keaau 12, Konawaena 7
Ranchell Berinobis and Rylann Hacoba each hit two-run doubles as the Cougars scored 11 runs in the first inning in Kealakekua and remained undefeated.
Lohi Kamakea-Wong pitched a complete game for the Cougars (3-0) and survived 13 hits – including home runs by Bethany Batangan and Teizha Kaluna.
Konawaena starter Jayssa Asuncion-Grace lasted just a third of an inning and was hurt by five walks. She was charged with eight earned runs and two hits with a strikeout.
Kamakea-Wong helped her cause with two doubles and two RBIs. She was 3 for 4 at the plate with two runs scored, and she struck out five in the circle with a walk. Only four of the runs she gave up were earned. Berinobis also doubled twice and scored twice.
After launching a two-run home run in the first, Kaluna added a run-scoring single in the seventh, going 3 for 4 with three RBIs and three runs scored for the Wildcats (2-2). Shyla Victor also was 3 for 4 and doubled, and she worked the final 6 2/3 innings in the circle. Lihue Wessel collected two doubles and drove in a run and Sierra Amor was 2 for 4.
Keaau (11)00 100 0 – 12 10 1
Konawaena 200 101 3 – 7 13 3
Kamehameha 14, Kealakehe 9
The Warriors went on the road to improve to 3-0, handing the Waveriders (3-1) their first loss of the season.
