HILO – With aces on the mound, hits were in short supply, and Kamehameha mastered the art of doing more with less on the baseball field.
HILO – With aces on the mound, hits were in short supply, and Kamehameha mastered the art of doing more with less on the baseball field.
The Warriors made the most of their seven hits in an 11-1 six-inning TKO win over Hawaii Prep in the opening game of the BIIF Division II championship series on Friday at Wong Stadium.
Kamehameha (15-2) struck out eight times against Ka Makani ace Jonah Hurney but exploded for six runs in the fifth to gain a little breathing room. In that frame, the Warriors struck out only once and took advantage of two walks and two hit by pitches.
“We were very fortunate. We struck out eight times and scored 11 runs,” Kamehameha coach Andy Correa said. “We put just enough pressure on them, and they had to take Jonah out.”
Hurney and Warrior ace Tai Atkins finished with 87 and 88 pitches, respectively, making both ineligible for a Game 3, if necessary, on Monday. Game 2 is 3 p.m. Saturday.
Atkins wasn’t at his best, but he was effective enough in five innings for the win against HPA (9-9). The sophomore left-hander pitched one-run ball on three hits and two walks, hit three batters and whiffed six.
He was also handicapped by a cut on his finger and couldn’t get on top of his curveball. Still, Atkins stranded seven on base, including two runners on in the first, fourth and fifth. Twice, he recorded strikeouts and the last time on a groundout, a flashy scoop and throw by shortstop Jai Cabatbat.
“My defense did the job,” Atkins said. “Other than that, I was all right. A little later in the game, my curveball was off.”
Kyran Kai closed out Game 1 with a scoreless inning with two strikeouts.
Hurney went 4 1/3 innings in the loss and allowed eight runs (two unearned) on four hits and three walks and one hit batter. The junior southpaw was able to get his curveball and changeup over for first-pitch strikes and kept hitters off-balance.
But he ran into trouble in the fifth when leadoff hitter DallasJ Duarte reached on an error and bad things snowballed from there. Hurney gave up a walk, single, and another walk to Kegan Miura with the bases loaded to let in an unearned run.
Then he was replaced by Tristan Sienkiewicz, who hit Bula Ahuna and Dustin Asuncion with the bases packed for two more runs. That made it 8-1, and Skyler Roque-Sunahara came in. Austin Ah Hee hit an RBI single, and Noah Chow had a sacrifice fly for a 10-1 cushion.
In the sixth, Kobie Kinzie and Cabatbat walked and Kai singled. Miura singled to right field for the TKO victory.
Duarte was a thorn for Hurney most of the day. In the first, he walked and later scored on a wild pitch. In the second, Duarte drilled a two-run single for a 4-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Atkins only retired the side once in the third. In the fourth, Blake Winston singled, Ry Bleckel was hit by a pitch, and Sienkiewicz timed a fastball and poked it to left for an RBI single.
Sienkiewicz batted 2 for 2 with an RBI.
Duarte was 1 for 3 with two RBIs and two runs scored, Kai went 2 for 4, and Miura was 1 for 2 with two RBIs.
With another win Saturday, the Warriors can claim their sixth straight BIIF title and then think about defending their HHSAA Division II state championship.