Kaalekahi Kuhaulua and Jayden Hunt combined on a three-hitter as Kailua overwhelmed Aiea 8-1 to capture the Oahu Interscholastic Association baseball championship on Friday night at Les Murakami Stadium.
The crown is the ninth for Kailua under longtime coach Corey Ishigo, and the first since 2017. So many talented teams of yesteryear, but this one had the grit — and pitching depth — to overcome obstacles. When the team sang the alma mater to its large contingent of Surfriders supporters, Ishigo held up both hands — nine fingers to signify the end of the seven-year drought. Ishigo almost couldn’t get the words out.
“It’s the ninth one. It’s the toughest one, the ninth one for us,” said Ishigo, whose first OIA title as Kailua’s coach was in 2000. “There’s so much teachable moments that you have in baseball. Dealing with adversity, going through the ups and downs. Just making them better people in life, in the long run. We have great people on this team. It’s different than others. They all have good grades. It’s the first year nobody’s on academic probation. They’re great people off the field.”
Kuhaulua allowed just one run, unearned, on three hits with five striekouts and two walks in three innings.
“It means a lot. Battling through this whole season, it meant a lot to us,” Kuhaulua said.
Hunt took over in the fourth inning and was nearly unhittable. He allowed just one safety, a double by Bostan Ujimori in the sixth inning, and struck out three of the last four batters he faced. In four innings, he struck out three and walked none. It was a big turnaround from a so-so one-inning stint in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday.
“All that matters is location and throwing strikes,” Hunt said. “Fastball, slider, curveball. I told Coach, this is the game. If I’m coming in, we’re winning it no matter what. Everyone’s got each other’s back.”
“This season is different from last season,” said leadoff hitter Kaimana Burgo, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI triple. “Last year was kind of like getting a taste of what it’s like to play in the tournament. This year, we’re more experienced. We knew what to do. We knew if we stuck together, we would do good.”
Aiea (12-3) had beaten Pearl City 7-3 and Roosevelt 3-1 to reach the title game. Kailua (13-2) defeated Kalani 10-1 and Moanalua 3-1 before meeting Aiea. The championship-game teams had entered the OIA playoffs tied at No. 8 in the Star-Advertiser Baseball Top 10.
“Put us at No. 9,” Ishigo quipped.
With a statewide TV audience, and coaches near and far scouting, Kailua was in the spotlight with no way to hide its weapons, though Ishigo noted that he didn’t use Rayvin Pagan as a pitcher this week.
Aiea scored in the top of the first inning. Ryen Abe and Brennen Panis drew one-out walks, and Ujimori’s groundball to second was shanked by Jiro Ishigo, allowing Abe to score. With Ujimori at second base, Kuhaulua bore down and struck out Shayden Muraoka to end the inning.
From that point on, Na Alii had just three hits.
Three crucial miscues by the normally flawless Aiea defense led to Kailua’s first five runs.
In the bottom of the second, Pagan led off with a single. With two outs, Brandon Moore singled to right, where the ball got past Caleb Schaefer and rolled to the wall. Pagan scored easily, and Moore circle the bases and tried to score, but the relay throw home by Panis, who started at second base, nailed Moore at the plate.
Kailua added five more runs to the scoreboard in the third frame. Burgo walked with one out and Kuhaulua, Kailua’s starting pitcher, single with two outs. The throw came home to Aiea catcher Cody Kamihara, who immediately ran toward Kuhaulua as he danced between first base and second base. During the pickle, Kamihara tossed the ball to Panis at second base, and Kuhaulua ran into Kamihara in the base path.
The play was ruled dead for interference by Kamihara, allowing Burgo to score.
“We practice this a lot. I just try not to get out,” Hunt said. “When that happened, I didn’t know he was there. I didn’t know I hit him. I just kept running.”
Aiea coach Brennan Alejo dis
Against new pitcher Kylan Kono, Masao Minami ripped a ground-rule double to right, scoring Kuhaulua. After Pagan walked, Kalama Carreira grounded to short, where Kono’s replacement, Panis, misfired on the throw to first base, allowing Minami to score.
With Ryce Aoki at the plate, Kono balked, and Pagan scored from third. Aoki then singled to center, scoring courtesy runner Will Risso for a 6-1 Kailua lead.
The Surfriders manufactured two runs in the bottom of the sixth with the help of another Aiea error. With two outs, Hunt grounded to third base, where Dylan Dumas fielded and misfired his throw to first base. Courtesy runner Romeo Ortiz moved to second base on a balk, and pinch hitter Racen Gauthe-Santos singled to left, scoring Ortiz.
Burgos followed with a triple to the right-center alley, scoring Sage Tokoro, who had re-entered the game.
Hunt was simply overpowering, striking out the final two batters in the top of the seventh.
Sometime down the road, there will be another team get-together with their head coach, who makes a mean teriburger, according to Burgo and Kuhaulua.
“It’s my family,” Ishigo said. “And I treat them all like my kids.”
—
OIA
Friday
Division I Tournament
Final
Kailua 8, Aiea 1
At Les Murakami Stadium
W—Jayden Hunt.
Leading hitters—Kail: Kaimana Burgo 2-3, run, RBI; Masao Minami 2-3, run, RBI; Rayvin Pagan 2 runs.
ILH
Double-elimination tournament
Friday
Mid-Pacific 5, Punahou 1
At Mid-Pacific
W—Luke Takakuwa-Holty (4 2/3 scoreless innings of relief).
Leading hitters—MPI: Eli Sniffen 2-2, 2b; Jerren Lum 2 runs; Ethan Yonemura 2-3, 2 RBIs. Pun: Cade Watson 2-3.
Maryknoll 6, ‘Iolani 3
At ‘Iolani
W—Allin Yap (four-hitter, 10 strikeouts).
Leading hitters—Mary: Luke Swartman 2-4, 2 RBIs; Jacob Remily 3-4; Kaui Kekauoha 2-3, 2b, 2 RBIs; Tanner Fujino 2b. Iol: Mana Lau Kong 2-2, 3b, 2 runs; Judah Ota HR, 2 RBIs.
Kamehameha 3, Pac-Five 1
At Central Oahu Regional Park
W—Logan Sanchez. S—Kaikai Kaneshiro. Leading hitters—KS: Jace Souza 2 runs; Dillon Andres 2-3, 2 RBIs. P5: Alika Ahu 3-4; Colten Amai Nakagawa 2-3; Espn Keaka Bennett 2-3.
