'Aiea, Kailua will battle for crown
By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer
'Aiea's Blaze Moleta doesn't have a blazing fastball, so to be effective he needs to do what he did yesterday against Roosevelt — mix his pitches and hit his spots.
Moleta, a right-hander, allowed three singles over six innings and lefty Ranon Aquino pitched a perfect seventh as 'Aiea beat Roosevelt, 8-0, yesterday at 'Aiea Rec Center field.
"My pitches were working good, all of them — fast, curve and change," Moleta said.
'Aiea (12-0) advanced to the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Tournament championship game at 3:30 p.m. today at Mililani. 'Aiea will play Kailua, which edged Wai'anae, 5-4, yesterday.
Moleta walked one, hit a batter, and threw 48 of his 69 pitches for strikes.
"His strength is his variety of pitches," 'Aiea coach Ryan Kato said. "He has a lot of pitches he can throw for strikes, and he maximizes his repertoire."
Moleta recorded 12 outs on ground balls, three on strikeouts and one on a fly ball. Two outs were recorded on the bases in the fifth on a double play.
"We were off-balance and couldn't get a good timing on his ball," Roosevelt coach Kerry Higa said of Moleta. "He pitched well, hit his spots well and he silenced our bats today."
Na Ali'i have shut out their last two opponents. On Thursday, 'Aiea beat Mililani, 1-0.
"There is no way we go into a game thinking we need a shutout to win," Kato said.
'Aiea scored two runs in the first off Ricky Eusebio on RBI singles by Dylan Libadisos and Aaron Asher.
"I was a little shaky, but as soon as my offense gave me some runs I felt confident," Moleta said.
Chase Kaiuwailani had a two-run single in the fourth, Bryson Tajiri belted an opposite-field homer to right in the fifth and pinch-hitter Lance Powell added a run-scoring single in the sixth.
Na Ali'i, who had nine hits, batted 6 for 11 with runners in scoring position, and stranded only four runners. They also drew four walks and a hit batsman.
"If we're zoned in, we're going to hit," Kato said.
The only time Moleta ran into trouble was in the fifth.
Eusebio walked to lead off the inning, and advanced to second on Daniel Taniguchi's ground out to third.
Kevin Fujii lined a single to center, but Libadisos threw a perfect one-hopper to catcher Asher, who tagged Eusebio and fired to shortstop Jonny Sakurai at second to nail Fujii.
"It really pumped me up, I got real excited," said Moleta, who also benefitted from an inning-ending ground-ball double play in the first.
Roosevelt (8-4) will play Wai'anae for third place in the OIA at 12:30 p.m. today. A fifth-place game between Pearl City and Kalaheo will be played at 9:30 a.m.
'Aiea, Kailua, Roosevelt, Wai'a-nae and the fifth-place OIA team will play in the Wally Yonamine State Championship, May 14-17 at Iron Maehara Stadium on Maui.
ROOSEVELT (8-4) 000 000 0—0 3 2
'AIEA (12-0) 200 231 X—8 9 1
Ricky Eusebio, Ivan Fujii (6) and Kevin Fujii. Blaze Moleta, Ranon Aquino (7) and Aaron Asher, Herbert Chung (6). W—Moleta. L—Eusebio.
Leading hitters: 'Aiea—Taylor Watanabe double; Asher 2 runs; Bryson Tajiri 2-3, homer, 3 RBIs, 2 runs; Chase Kaiuwailani 2 RBIs; James Miyashiro double.
• KAILUA 5, WAI'ANAE 4: Mike Kealoha doubled in Chris Mahelona with the tying run, and Shaun Sasaki walked with the bases loaded for the winning run, as the Surfriders advanced to the OIA championship game.
The Surfriders will be in the title game for the fourth consecutive year.
Wai'anae (9-3) 120 100 0—4 6 0
Kailua (11-1) 010 101 2—5 7 1
Clayton Uyechi and Darryl Ohelo. Ryan Rodrigues, Derek Mailau (2), Jordan Montgomery (3) and Ho'o Obed. W—Montgomery. L—Uyechi.
Leading hitters: Wai'anae—Uyechi 2-4, double, 2 RBIs. Kailua—Mike Kealoha double; Shaun Sasaki 2 RBIs; Sean Medeiros double.
Consolation Bracket
• PEARL CITY 6, KALANI 3: Scott Yasumoto batted 3 for 4 with a double and three RBIs, and reliever Tony Ganigan pitched three scoreless innings for the win as the Chargers rallied past the Falcons.
Pearl City (8-4-1) 000 033 0—6 12 0
Kalani (8-5) 210 000 0—3 6 3
Scott Yasumoto, Tony Ganigan (5) and Corey Giammalvo. Ty Sarchet, n/a (7) and Reid Pamatigan. W—Ganigan. L—Sarchet.
Leading hitters: Pearl City—Chad Itokazu 2-4, double, triple, 2 runs; Yasumoto 3-4, double, 3 RBIs; Ren Acosta 2-3; Giammalvo 2-4, triple, 2 runs. Kalani—Len Shimabuku double.
• KALAHEO 3, MILILANI 2: The Mustangs scored three runs in the first, including two on a throwing error, and Sean Fernandez and Scott Galusha combined on a seven-hitter.
Kalaheo's Jacob Myking batted 3 for 4 and Cody Racoma went 2 for 4.
Kalaheo (6-7) 300 000 0—3 7 1
Mililani (8-5) 002 000 0—2 7 6
Sean Fernandez, Scott Galusha (5) and Jacob Myking. Anson Oda, Eric Soeth (7) and Ian Koki. W—Fernandez. L—Oda.
Leading hitters: Kalaheo—Cody Racoma 2-4; Myking 3-4. Mililani—Chris Balatico 2-4, triple; Dane Mizusawa 2-3.
