As a wild Tuesday afternoon moved into early evening, it turned out there was tying in baseball.
‘Iolani and Kamehameha traded comebacks throughout their ILH duel at Ala Wai Field before shaking hands under the lights after eight innings without a winner.
No. 2 ‘Iolani trailed 7-5 after two innings and took a 9-7 lead in the top of the sixth, only to see the 10th-ranked Warriors answer with three in the bottom of the inning to reclaim the lead going into the seventh. ‘Iolani’s Micah Miyahira’s pinch-hit single scored Zack Kon with the tying run and the game went into extra innings.
Neither team could score in the eighth and the game went into the books knotted at 10-10. A soccer league had a permit for the field and under the field rules no new inning could start once the lights came on.
While neither team left with a victory, both came away encouraged by their respective rallies.
“This was a big week for us going against ‘Iolani, Saint Louis, Punahou,” Kamehameha coach Kahi Kaanoi said as the soccer goals were set up in the outfield. “It’s going to be tough, but I just loved the way they battled today. It was the most fun ballgame I’ve been in in a while.”
Kamehameha had won three straight after falling to Mid-Pacific to open the ILH season and faces Saint Louis on Thursday at 3-1-1. ‘Iolani (2-1-1) continues its week with a matchup against No. 6 Punahou on Thursday.
“It was really good to see them battle back being down two the whole way,” said ‘Iolani assistant coach Corey Yamamoto, who ran the team with head coach Kurt Miyahira away on a trip.
‘Iolani jumped ahead with three runs in the top of the first, but Hanu Racoma’s two-out bases-clearing double to center highlighted Kamehameha’s four-run rally in the bottom of the inning.
The Raiders scratched out two runs in the second, only to see the Warriors plate three, with Kalamaku Kuewa drilling a two-out, two-run triple to right-center.
Pontes and ‘Iolani reliever Jonah Miyazawa settled in and matched zeroes over the next three innings, with Kamehameha holding a 7-5 lead.
The Raiders offense broke through in the sixth when Micah Yonamine hammered a two-run double to left and Shane Sasaki followed with an RBI single to give ‘Iolani a 9-7 edge.
But Kamehameha rallied again, with Jonny Shimabukuro driving in the tying run with a single to right. The Warriors loaded the bases and Vicente Venenciano’s fielder’s choice grounder to shortstop scored the go-ahead run.
Kon walked to lead off the top of the seventh, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and took third on a passed ball. Micah Miyahira worked the count full, then drilled a grounder through the middle to tie the game again.
“He’s been swinging it well, fastball guy and (Kamehameha reliever Christian DeJesus) was throwing a lot of fastballs,” Yamamoto said. “He battled up there. … It was good to see him come off the bench and clutch up like that.”
DeJesus stranded two ‘Iolani runners in the top of the eighth, ‘Iolani’s Trevor Ichimura retired the Warriors in order in the bottom of the inning and the umpires called the game.
While the result left both teams less than completely satisfied, “a tie is better than a loss,” said Kamehameha starter Li’i Pontes, who threw 41⁄3 innings and had an RBI single.
