Baldwin beats Hilo to reach state baseball final against Waiakea
Two outer island teams advanced to the Division I state baseball championship game for the first time since 1984 after No. 4 seed Baldwin defeated Hilo 6-2 on Thursday night at Les Murakami Stadium.
The Bears (15-1) will try for their first Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA state championship since 1995 on Friday at 7 p.m. against Waiakea (19-0), which lost the only time it advanced to the title game in 1996.
Baldwin scored five times in the second inning and added a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Anoai Moe-Keahi.
Elijah Cruz hit an RBI double in the seventh for Hilo (15-6), which loaded the bases with one out and brought the tying run to the plate but couldn’t score.
Senior right-hander Troy Shishido pitched a complete game to earn the win for the Bears, allowing three hits.