Posted on: Saturday, August 18, 2001
'Aiea in Junior League title game
By Steve Jackson
Special to The Advertiser
TAYLOR, Mich. — Ron Yonesaki told his 'Aiea Junior League team to wait out its opponent's pitchers.
But through five innings, Hawai'i still had a goose egg on the scoreboard. Finally, the walks and hits started coming, leading to seven runs in the final two innings as 'Aiea defeated Lake Charles, La., 7-1, to capture its second consecutive United States championship at the Junior League World Series.
'Aiea will face Maracaibo, Venezuela, in the World Series final today at 11 a.m. Hawai'i time (ESPN2 tape delay on Monday).
Things didn't look good for Hawai'i early on, as Lake Charles ace Grant Derouen opened the game with two strikeouts, then led off the bottom of the first with an off-the-wall double.
But 'Aiea got a tremendous momentum boost when Lake Charles' Cain Manuel flied to deep right, and Derouen tagged up and was tagged out at third on a throw by Hawai'i center fielder Kyson Morikuni.
"I knew by how deep the ball was hit that if he was going to be out, it would have to be a perfect throw," Lake Charles manager Steve Manuel said. "It was perfect."
"That was a huge play for us," Yonesaki said. "It really pumped us up."
Lake Charles center fielder Jordan Daughenbaugh countered with a triple down the right-field line. He scored on an error by the 'Aiea third baseman to give Lake Charles a 1-0 lead.
After that, the Lake Charles bats went silent.
"In the first inning, coach was calling mostly fastballs and they were hitting me hard," 'Aiea's winning pitcher Shawn Ha'o said. "After that we made the adjustment and I threw more off-speed pitches."
Those adjustments made all the difference, as Lake Charles got one more hit the rest of the game.
Despite the strong pitching performance by Ha'o, 'Aiea still trailed 1-0 heading into the sixth inning.
That is when Yonesaki's plan finally worked.
"(The Lake Charles pitcher) only had two days rest, and our plan was to let him throw and he would eventually come to our temple," Yonesaki said.
Derouen walked the first batter of the seventh and went 3-0 on his second batter, who would eventually walk as well, before Steve Manuel pulled him for his son, Cain.
The Hawai'i scoring onslaught began when Lance Powell knocked a two-run double down the left field line.
Cain Manuel, whose control problems pulled him out of Tuesday's game after the second inning, didn't fare any better yesterday.
Manuel and Derouen combined to walk eight of the next 11 Aiea hitters, turning the game into a 7-1 blowout.
"We knew we would tire him out," 'Aiea's Blaze Moleta said. "Coach told us that it was just a matter of time."
Moleta took over on the mound in the sixth, when Aiea held a 4-1 lead. He protected that lead by retiring Lake Charles' top three hitters in a row.
Powell also pitched a perfect seventh to close the game. Since Powell and Moleta only pitched one inning each, both will be available for the World Series final.
Moleta is expected to start against Maracaibo, Venezuela, whose ace, Victor Galue, pitched yesterday.
Venezuela is a very aggressive team. They even stole home in the international final against Canada, whom they defeated 4-2, when they had the lead.
"We're aggressive — just like we have been the entire tournament," Venezuela coach Gustavo Marcano said through his interpreter. "We'll do anything we need to do to win."
'Aiea hopes to overcome the strong fielding and aggressive strategy of Venezuela to become the first team ever to be back-to-back Junior League World Series champions.
