KEALAKEKUA — Logan Canda was a little wild, but when he wasn’t walking batters he was nearly unhittable as Konawaena rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat the Kohala Cowboys 3-1 at Gabby Inaba
KEALAKEKUA — Logan Canda was a little wild, but when he wasn’t walking batters he was nearly unhittable as Konawaena rallied for two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat the Kohala Cowboys 3-1 at Gabby Inaba Field in Kealakekua on Wednesday.
Canda — one of four Konawaena seniors being honored on Senior Night — walked six batters and allowed one unearned run to cross the plate in the top of the fifth inning, which momentarily tied the game. But he also struck out six and gave up only one hit in a complete game victory.
“He is our co-captain and our bulldog. A lot of players gravitate to him,” said Konawaena head coach Adam Tabieros. “He wasn’t finding his spots but he told me he had this and I trusted him.”
As for the Wildcat offense, they too were stifled early on by Kohala pitcher Tate Fernandez, who allowed three hits in three innings of work. He struck out two and walked one.
However, Konawaena did manage to score the first run of the game against Fernandez in the bottom of the third inning when Kaiya Leleiwi singled to right, stole second, and then moved to third and scored on a pair of wild pitches.
Leleiwi led the offense with the only multi-hit game of the evening. He went 2 for 2 with a pair of singles, a walk, a run and an RBI.
“We needed someone to step up and he did,” Tabieros said. “He had a great game today and gave us a positive outcome.”
With a 1-0 lead heading into the fifth inning, Canda quickly picked up two outs but walked the third batter, Chance Pang. Jayven Amanonce reached on an error by the shortstop, which allowed Pang to run all the way home to tie the score.
Konawaena committed three errors in the game, something that has plagued the team all year.
The game stayed tied until the bottom of the sixth when the Wildcats pushed two runs across the plate. With two outs, freshman Jake Basque, singled to right to start the rally. A.J. Allred doubled to center and Basque scored on the play. Leleiwi followed with an infield single, which scored Allred.
Steven Medeiros threw the final three innings for Kohala. He allowed two runs off five hits, while walking one and striking out one.
Canda closed the door on Kohala in the seventh for the win. He was helped out by his catcher Tyler Kitaoka, who is also a senior.
“Tyler is a leader by example,” Tabieros said. “He is a player who I allow to call pitches and do everything. A lot of our success is based off of him. He will be hard to replace.”
Other seniors honored after the game were Anthony Ward and Trey Basque. Ward was Konawaena’s best hitter last year but has been dealing with an injury much of the season. He is expected to be fully back in a week or two.
“Anthony is our main guy at the plate and we are slowly bringing him back,” Tabieros said. “Trey is a hard worker with a great smile and attitude on and off the field.”
