If all of the baseball teams in the OIA West are a classic boxer, Aiea’s club most resembles Sugar Ray Leonard.
Na Alii (3-2) never threw a knockout punch, but instead picked apart winless Kapolei (0-6) with eight singles for a 7-3 win at Aiea on Friday.
“We bunched up a bunch of hits,” Aiea coach Ryan Kato said. “That is something that was lacking in the first part of the season. It started with looking within ourselves, playing the way we are supposed to be playing rather than doing something we are not capable of doing.”
Na Alii have won three in a row after being shut out by Mililani and Campbell in their first two games.
They have scored 28 runs during their resurgence, but none of the runs has come from pure power.
They just keep the runners moving and the defense swatting at flies.
“They just put the ball in play in the places they want to,” Kapolei coach Tom Ebanez said. “It’s hard to defense against that; at some point it becomes ‘What can you do?’ ”
After Aiea starter Dylan Madamba got the Hurricanes in order in the top of the first, Na Alii peppered Kapolei for six runs in the bottom of the inning.
Jaryn Nakamoto reached on an error by Kapolei shortstop Jordan Macias to begin the inning. Daylan Pajimola and Trevor Ling followed with singles through the infield for Aiea’s first run. Na Alii would keep pestering Kapolei, with successive singles by Micah Peters-Valdez, Tyren Takasawa and Lewai Manoa after a four-pitch walk to Patrick Villanueva.
The surge was enough for Kapolei starter Dylan White to say “no mas.”
After Manoa’s single blooped just over the glove of Kapolei third baseman Robert Oliveros, White dropped the ball onto the mound and walked slowly to the dugout. He met his coach as he crossed the baseline and told him he’d had enough.
“It’s just an identity thing,” Ebanez said. “It is about them finding themselves and learning that it’s all about having fun. They kind of lose track of that because they are so competitive and want things to be right, but life isn’t always that way. He’s a good kid; it is just a learning process.”
Kapolei may be searching for its first win, but it is no Roberto Duran — it fought back hard.
Chase Domogsac took the mound after White’s defection and struck out the first two batters he faced.
He would have struck out the side, but a catcher’s interference call brought in Aiea’s sixth run of the inning. Domogsac followed that up by inducing a harmless pop to second by Pajimola to end the threat. Aiea scored again in the bottom of the second on an RBI double by Peters-Valdez, but Domogsac held them scoreless the rest of the way and finished with seven strikeouts.
At Aiea
Kapolei (0-6) 001 200 0 — 3 5 5
Aiea (3-2) 610 000 X — 7 9 1
Dylan White, Chase Domogsac (1) and Khasen Espaniola, Tyler Ha’o (1). Dylan Madamba, Jansen Kudaishi (4), Hunter Yara (7) and Patrick Villanueva. W-Madamba. L-White.
Leading hitters—Kapo: Jordan Macias 2-4. Aiea: Jaryn Nakamoto 2-4, RBI; Michael Peters-Valdez 2-4, 3 RBI.
ILH
Pac-Five 7, Maryknoll 4
Brayden Yabuki went 4-for-4, and Landon Teramoto drove in three runs as the Wolfpack beat the Spartans.
At Ala Wai Community Park
Pac-Five (4-0) 300 200 2 — 7 10 1
Maryknoll (1-1) 200 002 0 — 4 9 2
Chris Andreyka, Landon Teramoto (6) and Ryllen Abeshima. Joshua Muneno, Matthew Yap (7) and Neal Nakasone.
W—Andreyka. L—Muneno.
Leading hitters—Pac5: Brayden Yabuki 4-4, 2b, 2 runs; Abeshima 2-4; Braxton Kihara 1-4, RBI, 2 runs; Teramoto 1-4, 3 RBIs. Mryk: Ryan Nakamura 2-4; Justin Ushio 2-4, run; Brent Hironaga 2-3; Jed Andrade 1-3, RBI, run.
OIA BLUE
Waianae 17, Kaimuki 1
The Seariders dominated the Bulldogs in their fourth consecutive 10-run-rule win.
At Waianae
Kaimuki (1-3) 100 00 — 1 1 7
Waianae (4-0) 447 2X — 17 10 1
Will Higa and Tyler Fujita. Brandon Cambra, Tavita Lalau (4), Kekoa Kaluhiokalani Jr (5) and Wayne Silva, Jerzy Ramento-Acosta.
W—Cambra. L—Higa.
Leading hitters—Kaim: Higa 1-2, 2b, run. Wain: Kaluhiokalani Jr. 2-3, 3b, RBI; Lalau 2-4, 2b, 2 RBIs; Silva 2-2, 2b, 2 RBIs; Chasetin Nash-Santiago 2-4, 4 RBIs.
Also
MIL
Maui 7, King Kekaulike 2
Lahainaluna 5, KS-Maui 3