WAILUKU » Better late than never for the Mililani Trojans.
Mililani reached Waipahu ace Dylan Sugimoto for two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh inning for a stunning 2-1 win on Wednesday in the opening round of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA State Baseball Championships at Iron Maehara Stadium.
OIA runner-up Mililani (11-7) will play the tourney’s top seed, hometown favorite Baldwin, in today’s 7 p.m. Division I quarterfinal game.
Sophomore Sean Sonognini delivered the game-tying run with a double to the left-field corner and Kanoa Wong’s sacrifice fly brought home pinch runner Chase Miyachi with the winning run.
Until the seventh, Sugimoto had a three-hit shutout going.
But two infield errors by Waipahu factored in its demise. Wong was the happy opportunist. After committing an error that led to a Waipahu run in the fourth inning, he came up with his biggest offensive swing of the season.
"I tried to get something deep into the outfield. He threw a fastball down the middle," said Wong, who came up to bat with the bases loaded and one out. "The game wasn’t going my way, so I stayed with what I know, the basics. I feel good about the (sacrifice fly), but I don’t feel good about the error. Baseball is a game of failure."
At Iron Maehara Stadium
| Waipahu (9-7) |
000 |
100 |
0 |
— |
1 |
3 |
3 |
| Mililani (11-7) |
000 |
000 |
2 |
— |
2 |
4 |
2 |
One out when winning run scored.
Dylan Sugimoto and Graysen Fuentes. Cole Nakachi, Cristian Namoca (4) and Jamesson Madrid. W–Namoca. L–Sugimoto.
Leading hitters–Waipahu: Fuentes 1-3, RBI. Mililani: Sean Sonognini 1-1, double, RBI.
Kailua 2, ‘Iolani 0
Kailua pitcher Wyatt Dalessio fired a two-hitter and his teammates came through with the game’s only runs in the sixth inning.
"I felt relaxed. We have nothing to lose," said Dalessio, who spotted his fastball and curve consistently. "But my changeup was off."
The 6-foot senior fanned five, including two in the final inning, and walked two.
Kahaku Iaea’s opposite-field single brought home Corey Louis-Soares for the game’s first run in the top of the sixth. On the same play, Dalessio rounded third and scored behind Iaea when the throw from right field went astray.
At Iron Maehara Stadium
| Kailua (11-5) |
|
000 |
002 |
0 |
— |
2 |
6 |
3 |
| ‘Iolani (8-10) |
|
000 |
000 |
0 |
— |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Wyatt Dalessio and Royce Komesu. Bronson Ichimura, Corey Nakakura (7) and J.R. Matsuura. W–Dalessio. L–Ichimura.
Leading hitters–Kailua: Corey Louis-Soares 3-4, double, run; Bryce Ah Sam 2-3. ‘Iolani: none.
Maui 4, Pearl City 3
Senior Micah Isagawa pitched six innings and Mark Karaviotis survived a Chargers comeback in the seventh as the Sabers advanced before a near-capacity hometown crowd.
Isagawa scattered seven hits and gave up two runs, including just one earned. He struck out two and walked one, handing a 4-2 lead to Karaviotis, the starter at shortstop.
Karaviotis walked three Chargers, one with the bases loaded, allowing Pearl City to cut the lead to 4-3.
At Iron Maehara Stadium
| Pearl City (11-6) |
010 |
001 |
1 |
— |
3 |
8 |
1 |
| Maui (12-4) |
040 |
000 |
x |
— |
4 |
6 |
1 |
Tanner Tokunaga, Sean Milan (6) and Kamalu Neal. Micah Isagawa, Mark Karaviotis (7) and Jaylan Suda. W–Isagawa. L–Tokunaga. S–Karaviotis.
Leading hitters–Pearl City: Tokunaga 2-3, run. Maui: Chazz Ishikawa 2-2, run.
