After all the last-minute adjustments of Tuesday, destiny appears to be on Kailua’s side.
Ace pitcher Royce Komesu, a last-minute scratch on Tuesday due to a hamstring injury, crafted a four-hit shutout on Wednesday to lead the Surfriders over MIL champion Baldwin 2-0 in the Division I quarterfinals of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA State Baseball Championships.
Kailua (13-4) advanced to Thursday’s semifinal round and will meet Mililani in a 4 p.m. matchup at Les Murakami Stadium.
Komesu used his mix of angles, release points and pitches to stymie coach Jon Viela’s Bears (14-2).
"Today, I was about 80 percent," said Komesu, who couldn’t get out of warm-ups in the bullpen just 24 hours earlier because of a balky left hamstring. "(On Tuesday), it felt like it was going to give. After school, we put heat on it and stretched it out."
Komesu, who hadn’t pitched in a game since May 3, didn’t dominate Baldwin, but managed to pitch out of jams in the even-numbered innings, as well as Baldwin’s seventh-inning threat. Baldwin had the bases loaded with one out in the top of the second, two runners on in the fourth, two more in scoring position in the sixth. In all, the Bears stranded nine baserunners, including seven in scoring position.
"Royce pitched a good game. Baldwin’s a good team. We let Royce pitch his game," Surfriders coach Corey Ishigo said.
In the seventh, Nawai Ah-Yen led off with a walk and Skyelor Ishikawa was hit by a pitch. Lane Kashiwamura’s sacrifice bunt advanced the runners, but Haloa Dudoit popped out to second and Isaiah Maddela flew out to left, ending the game.
"The last couple of innings, I was talking to myself, telling myself to believe in myself, to believe in my team, to trust each other," Komesu said.
Komesu’s counterpart, Noah Apolo, kept his team in the game with a good arsenal of pitches. The southpaw scattered nine hits, struck out six and issued just one walk.
The damage was done in the bottom of the third, when Kailua scored both of its runs. Peter Kanoho led off with an infield single and advanced to second on a groundout by Brendan Odo. After Kanoho moved on to third on Dalton Kalama’s groundout to second, Lawson Faria doubled down the right-field line to bring Kanoho home.
Noah Auld followed with a single to right, advancing Faria to third, where he held. But the cutoff throw sailed high and went directly to Baldwin catcher Makana Victorine, and Auld widened his turn around first base.
Victorine took the bait and fired to second base, but his throw sailed into center field, allowing Faria to score Kailua’s second run.
OIA runner-up Kailua was on the verge of being eliminated on Tuesday by the league’s sixth-place team, Aiea, but came up with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a 5-4 win. "I was kind of scared," said Komesu of Tuesday’s nerve-racking win. "If we had lost, that would’ve been the worst."
BALDWIN (14-2) |
000 |
000 |
0 |
— |
0 |
4 |
0 |
KAILUA (13-4) |
002 |
000 |
X |
— |
2 |
9 |
0 |
Noah Apolo and Makana Victorine. Royce Komesu and Dalton Kalama. W—Komesu. L—Apolo.
Leading hitters—Baldwin: Victorine 2-3. Kailua: Peter Kanoho 2-3, run; Jameson White 2-3; Lawson Faria 1-3, double, RBI, run.