It took more than a decade but Waipahu finally has its 20th OIA baseball championship in school history.
Senior Phoenix Torres finished one out shy of a complete game and catcher Kamden Takanobu went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, including a big two-out double in the bottom of the sixth inning to lead Waipahu to a 4-2 win over Kahuku in the OIA Division II championship game on Friday at Les Murakami Stadium.
Torres took a shutout into the seventh inning before allowing two unearned runs for the Marauders (12-1), whose only loss of the season came against Kahuku (10-4), which has never won an OIA title in baseball.
“We’ve worked all year for this and leading into this game we felt like we’ve got to get this done, man,” said Torres, who struck out seven and allowed four hits in 103 pitches. “We wanted it so bad and it finally came.”
Waipahu, which last won the OIA D-II title in 2012, led 4-0 in the top of the seventh when Kahuku rallied for two runs.
Kaulana Judd-Au led off with a walk and scored one a one-out error that allowed Oakland Hanohano to reach base.
Malakai Vendiola, who also started on the mound for the Red Raiders, followed with a two-out RBI double to left to score Hanohano and bring the tying run to the plate.
Donnie Miller, who reached base twice on a hit batter and a walk, came in from right field to pitch the final out to end it.
“I’m just so happy and so proud of these guys with the work that they’ve put in,” Waipahu coach Ian Ferris said. “I knew (Kahuku) wasn’t going to quit fighting. (Thursday’s game) against Waianae is a perfect example. The two runs (we scored) I knew we needed to pad on a little more.”
Kahuku, which finished third in the regular season, beat No. 2 seed Waianae 14-13 in the semifinals to lock up just its third appearance ever in a state tournament and first since 2009.
Vendiola, a sophomore who faced seven batters and gave up two hits and four walks against the Seariders, kept Kahuku in it by allowing one earned run in 51⁄3 innings with three walks and six strikeouts.
“We pushed him to the limit. He pitched (Thursday) and he had some more left in him that we could do with the pitch count and he gave it his all,” Kahuku coach Spencer Colburn said. “I’m very proud to make it this far. The boys fought all the way to the end. We look forward to states next week.”
Waipahu took the lead on Takanobu’s two-out RBI single in the second inning and doubled the lead when courtesy runner Ryne Yoshimura scored on one of Kahuku’s four errors.
Takanobu ripped Waipahu’s only extra-base hit with two outs in the sixth inning when he lined a double down the left-field line. Torres said his contributions from behind the plate were big, too.
“(Takanobu) gives me a lot of confidence from framing to keeping the ball in front of him. Arm strength, he showed it all today,” Torres said.
Torres started all three of Waipahu’s games against Kahuku this season. The Red Raiders handed Waipahu its only loss on April 5, when Torres allowed five runs in four innings.
In his next two starts against Kahuku, Torres combined to allow five hits and two unearned runs in 112⁄3 innings with 13 strikeouts.
“First time we played them he was pitching well but I think it was a bit of an eye-opener for him,” Ferris said. “I think he was putting a little bit of pressure on himself as our ace and leader and I think for him it was kind of the realization that we weren’t asking for him to be perfect, we just wanted him to do what he does.”
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OIA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT
Championship
Waipahu 4, Kahuku 2
W—Phoenix Torres. L—Malakai Vendiola. Sv—Donnie Miller.
Leading hitters—Waip: Kamden Takanobu 2-3, 2 RBI.
Third place
Waianae 13, Radford 12
W—KamrenJ Atanes. L—Angel Garcia.
Leading hitters—Rad: Caden Noble 2 runs, 2 RBI; Mataio Tauanuu 4-4, 3 RBI; Wendell Harrison 2-4, 3 runs, RBI; James Robert Stevens Jr. 2-3, 2 runs, 2 RBI; Xavier De Alba 2-4, run, RBI. Wain: Shysten Nagasako 2 runs, 2 RBI; Joeziah Clifton run, 3 RBI; Kyson Rosa 2 runs, 2 RBI; Nainoa Nagum 2-2, 2 runs; Rico Duropan run, 2 RBI.
