Z Miyashiro socked a game-tying two-run single and Taven Hathaway delivered the go-ahead RBI single as Moanalua rallied for a 6-5 win over Kaiser on a hot Wednesday afternoon in Hawaii Kai.
Miyashiro’s single up the middle brought home Jake Ferreira and Shayde Koga to knot the game at 5-all in the top of the seventh. Hathaway, who pitched five innings and won in Moanalua’s game against Kalani on Saturday, then socked a 2-2 fastball to center, scoring Connor Dempsey from second base for the lead.
Pitching in relief of Koen Smith (52⁄3 innings), Reyn Vidad retired the first two Kaiser batters in the bottom of the seventh. After Taylin Oana walked and stole second base, Vidad struck out Kagimoto to end the game.
“I like best the resilience, the grit, keeping us in the ball game, and winning the game,” first-year Moanalua coach Peter Arakawa said.
He stuck with Smith, who struck out five and walked none.
“That’s a big part of having a staff, believing in your guys. The hard part is it’s a very fast season in Hawaii, 12 games. If you don’t instill that confidence early on, you’re never going to get it later on,” Arakawa said.
Moanalua, which lost to Kailua in its league opener, is 2-1 in OIA East play. Kaiser, which has two seniors on its roster, slipped to 1-2.
“We’re a little down that we lost, but our kids played well. They competed. That’s all you can ask,” Kaiser coach Josh Halemanu said. “We swung the bat well. We competed. We didn’t give up. That’s all you can ask for.”
The visitors took advantage of two early walks by Kaiser starter Ty Komoda to score twice in the top of the first. Koga and Kaiden Sonoda-Fukumoto walked, advanced on a wild pitch, then came home on groundouts by Dempsey and Miyashiro.
The Cougars scored once in the bottom of the first. Kade Hue socked a two-out double to deep left and came home on a throwing error.
In the bottom of the third, Zach Ho led off with a single to left, stole second base and scored on a single by Oana to tie the game at 2. Smith then picked Oana off first base and struck out Hue to end the frame.
In the top of the fourth, Moanalua took a 4-3 lead. Nate Alvaro walked, went to second base on a passed ball and advanced to third on a groundout to second base by Rylan Li. A wild pitch by Komoda allowed Alvaro to score, and Moanalua led 3-2.
The Cougars got to Smith for three runs in the top of the sixth, two of them unearned. Oana doubled to deep center and Kagimoto followed with a triple to deep left, scoring Oana to tie the game at 3. After Hue flew out, Kanoa Morisaki’s ground ball went through the legs of Moanalua second baseman Sonoda-Fukumoto. Kagimoto scored on the boo-boo for a 4-3 lead.
After a wild pitch advanced Morisaki to third, he scored on a sacrifice fly by Kawakami for a 5-3 Kaiser lead.
Vidad entered the game to get the last two outs of the inning.
In the top of the seventh, Ferreira was hit by pitch and Koga walked against Bryson Toner, who had moved from catcher to pitcher at the start of the sixth. A walk to Dempsey loaded the bases and Miyashiro, a lefty, sent a 2-1 pitch up the middle for the two-run single.
Oana moved from shortstop to the mound and struck out Alvaro for the second out, but Hathaway smacked a 2-2 fastball to center, scoring Dempsey for the go-ahead run.
“I wasn’t expecting to hit. I just came in and did my job,” Hathaway said. “I saw him shaking off, so I kind of knew he was throwing a fastball. He got the first two by me so I knew he was going back to it. It feels good to get the win. Good team win. Coen and Reyn did good on the mound, everybody was playing great defense behind them, we got the bat on the ball and we got the win.”
