Slipshod baseball by Interscholastic League of Honolulu standards.
Despite four hit batsmen by one pitcher and a combined seven errors, Kamehameha walked away from the ‘Iolani ball grounds with a 10-4 win.
And fortunately for the second-ranked Warriors (3-1), a first-place tie with Punahou and Saint Louis is theirs.
Freshman lefty Javyn Pimental got his first league start on the mound for Kamehameha and exited with a 9-4 lead after 31⁄3 innings. Reliever Kamaha‘o Arita came in to throw 22⁄3 scoreless innings to collect the win before Francis Gora finished up with one inning of one-hit ball.
Along with their three errors, the Warriors also turned three slick double plays. Second baseman Logan Salcedo was part of all three, and he went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
“Logan does a great job, turning the ball well at second, making those double plays with Kawai (shortstop Takemura),” Kamehameha head coach Thomas Perkins said. “They’re quick to the ball and their release is very good.”
Kalamoku Kuewa’s three-run double sparked a four-run first inning for the Warriors, who were helped out by two ‘Iolani errors in starting the rout. Kamehameha added four more runs for an 8-0 count in the second on Salcedo’s RBI double, a two-run single by his brother, Dylan Salcedo, and William Cordes’ run-scoring hit.
Far from lacking the proper ILH fire in its belly, the Raiders (1-3) rallied hard, scoring two unearned runs in the second on three Warriors errors. Jordan Hara’s RBI double and Matthew Inaba’s run-scoring hit cut Kamehameha’s lead to 9-4 in the fourth.
The damage against the Warriors could have been worse. With the bases loaded and one out, Zack Kon hit a fly to center that Kamehameha’s Gora caught and pegged home to nail Shaydon Kubo at the plate to halt the rally.
‘Iolani’s Micah Yonamine, a relative of Hawaii legend Wally Yonamine according to Raiders coach Kurt Miyahira, doubled in the fifth and in the seventh, but was left stranded each time.
Nakea Hanohano’s RBI triple plated Kamehameha’s 10th run in the sixth.
“Kamehameha is a good team, a veteran ball club with quality arms,” Miyahira said. “We’re a work in progress and we’ll get there. They’re good kids, they work and they’ll figure it out. We have a long season. It only takes one spark to start a brush fire.”
Reliever Aaron Wehrman, who came in to begin the fourth in place of ‘Iolani starter and loser Logan Yee, gave up just one run in his four innings.
After a 2-1 loss to Saint Louis in its league opener, Kamehameha has won three straight. The Warriors beat Mid-Pacific 6-1 on Monday and Punahou 11-1 on Tuesday. They will play a fourth game today against Maryknoll.
The older Salcedo, Logan, who is a senior, is excited about the possibilities for his team in this tough league.
“We’re doing pretty good,” he said. “Hopefully, against Maryknoll we can just come out firing like we came out against ‘Iolani in the first inning. We’ve been hitting really well and the pitching has been pretty good.”
A win over Maryknoll (1-3) is far from a guarantee, despite the Spartans’ position in a tie for last place with Mid-Pacific and ‘Iolani. They are coached by Eric Kadooka, who led Punahou to an unprecedented seven straight state titles from 2004 to ’10.
As Perkins so succinctly said after Thursday’s win, “There is no easy road in the ILH.”
ILH BASEBALL
No. 2 Kamehameha 10,
‘Iolani 4
At ‘Iolani
KS (3-1) 441 001 0 —10 10 3
‘Iolani (1-3) 020 200 0 — 4 9 4
Javyn Pimental, Kamaha‘o Arita (4), Francis
Gora (7) and Dylan Salcedo. Logan Yee,
Aaron Wehrman (4) and Blake Hiraki. W—
Arita. L—Yee.
Leading hitters—Kamehameha: Kawai
Takemura 2b, 2 runs; Logan Salcedo 3-4,
2b, 2 runs; Nakea Hanohano 2-3, 3b; Kalamoku
Kuewa 2b, 3 RBIs; Dylan Salcedo
2 RBIs; ‘Iolani: Shaydon Kubo 2-3;
Matthew Inaba 2-4; Micah Yonamine 2-3,
2 2bs; Aaron Ujimori 2 runs; Jordan Hara
2b.
ILH JV BASEBALL
Kamehameha 8, Pac-Five 4
Punahou 3, Damien 2
MIL BASEBALL
Baldwin 7, Lahainaluna 0
Maui High 4, Kamehameha-Maui 2
BIIF BASEBALL
Hawaii Prep 15, Pahoa 1 (4 1
/2 innings;
thunder)
OIA EAST SOFTBALL
Kaiser 14, Farrington 4,
5 inn.
At Kaiser
Farrington (0-3) 101 02 — 4 6 3
Kaiser (1-0-1) 770 0x — 14 10 5
Krislon Philpot-Rosa, Kelia Miller (2), Kylie
Carganilla (2) and NA. Primrose Aholelei,
Tahani Kahawai-Robertson (3), Precious
Aholelei (5) and Pre. Aholelei. W—Kahawai-Robertson.
L—Philpot-Rosa.
Leading hitters—Farrington: Carganilla
2-3; Racquel Abero 2-3, 3b. Kaiser: Kayla
Russell HR, 2 runs; Trinidee Kahunahana 2
runs; Pri. Aholelei 2-3, HR, 2 runs, 2 RBIs;
Kahawai-Robertson 2-3; Pre. Aholelei 2-2,
3 RBIs; Christiana Aholelei 2b, 2 runs; Tehani
Aquino 3 RBIs.
OIA DIVISION II SOFTBALL
Waialua 19, Waipahu 11
At Waialua
Waipahu (1-3) 5 1 1 102 1 — 11 12 4
Waialua (1-2) 0(10)1 242 x — 19 9 5
S. Veu and C. Colombini. Honey JoseWoods
and Lea‘a Puleiala. W—JoseWoods.
L—Veu.
Leading hitters—Waipahu: Veu 3-4, 3
RBIs; Colombini 2-3, 3b, 4 runs; J. Paredes
2-4; S. Kapesi 2-5. Waialua: Nova Rivera
2-5, HR, 2 runs; Puleiala 3-4, 2b, 4
runs, 2 RBIs; Lexiss Evans 2-2, 2b, 3b, 2
runs, 3 RBIs; Andrea Dicion HR, 2 runs, 2
RBIs.
