Top seed 'Aiea in semifinals
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
| • | State baseball
Hawai'i High School Athletic Association/Wally Yonamine Foundation state championship At Les Murakami Stadium Yesterday’s Quarterfinals Waiakea 5, Pearl City 1 Today's semifinals Waiakea vs. Mid-Pacific, 4:30 p.m. |
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Lamug pitched a five-hitter and Asher doubled in the go-ahead run as Na Ali'i (13-1) avenged their only loss of the season to the Mules (12-3) in front of 1,873.
'Aiea will play Punahou (17-6) in a semifinal today at 7 p.m. Leilehua will play Baldwin (13-2) in a consolation game at 11:30 a.m.
"Leilehua beat us once," 'Aiea coach Ryan Kato said of his team's 6-5 loss in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association season opener. "That was the fuel to our fire. We knew it was going to be a dogfight."
Asher broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fifth inning. With no outs, Jordan Shibata reached on an error, took second on CJ Tausaga's sacrifice bunt, and one out later, scored on Asher's double to left.
"I was just looking to get on base and hit the ball hard," Asher said. "I was just looking for something small, trying to get runs. It felt good to hit it."
Asher's batterymate, Lamug, tossed a complete game, allowing one unearned run on five hits, two walks with four strikeouts. He stranded seven baserunners, including six runners in scoring position in the second, third, fifth and sixth innings.
"Everybody was fired up to play," Lamug said. "(Leilehua) gave me my first loss since my sophomore year. I wanted this game a lot."
Asher said Lamug spotted his curveball and changeup, and kept hitters off-balance with fastballs on the inner and outer portions of the plate.
"My hat goes off to Blake," Kato said. "He's the most consistent pitcher we've had all year. He's like another coach. That's the same kind of performance I expect out of him."
'Aiea opened scoring with one run in the second inning. Kepa Wong led off with a double, advanced to third on Lance Powell's single and scored on a fielder's choice groundout by Bryson Tajiri.
Leilehua tied the score at 1 in the fifth. Joshua Fetters reached on an error to lead off and was replaced by pinch-runner Quinton Bagayas. Following a sacrifice bunt and a walk that put runners on first and second, Andrew Ontai doubled in Bagayas.
"Today it was two tough teams going at it, trying to get into the next round," Leilehua coach Garett Yukumoto said. "It was a well-played ballgame by both sides. They had one break more than us and they won."
Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2458.
Baseball tournament
- WHAT: Wally Yonamine Foundation State Championship
- WHEN: Today and Tomorrow
- WHERE: Les Murakami Stadium
- TICKETS: $7 adults, $5 students (kindergarten through 12th).
- PARKING: $3
- TV: Tomorrow's championship game, 8 p.m., OC-16
SCHEDULE
TUESDAY
First round
- G1—Leilehua 13, Honoka'a 0
- G2—Roosevelt 4, Hilo 3
- G3—Pearl City 6, Kaua'i 3, 8 innings
- G4—Punahou 3, Kaiser 2
YESTERDAY
Consolation
- G5—Kaiser 7, Honoka'a 5
Quarterfinals
- G6—Waiakea 5, Pearl City 1
- G7—Punahou 5, Baldwin 1
- G8—'Aiea 2, Leilehua 1
- G9—Mid-Pacific 4, Roosevelt 3
TODAY
Consolation
- G10—Hilo vs. Kaua'i, 9 a.m
- G11—Leilehua vs. Baldwin, 11:30 a.m.
- G12—Pearl City vs. Roosevelt, 2 p.m.
Semifinals
- G13—Waiakea vs. Mid-Pacific, 4:30 p.m.
- G14—'Aiea vs. Punahou, 7 p.m.
TOMORROW
Consolation
- Kaiser vs. Winner G10, noon
Fifth place
- Winners of G11 & G12, 2:30 p.m.
Third place
- Semifinal losers, 5 p.m.
Championship
- Semifinal winners, 8 p.m.
YESTERDAY
Consolation
Kaiser 7, Honoka'a 5: Neale Asato batted 2 for 3 with two RBIs and the Cougars scored four runs in the fourth inning to eliminate the Dragons.
KAISER (11-4) 020 401 — 7 9 2
HONOKA'A (10-7) 000 221 — 5 7 1
Trent Hamada, Evan Garcia (5), Reyn Kimura (5) and Jarryd Maeda. Joshua Hart and Gary Yu. W—Hamada. L—Hart.
Leading hitters: Kaiser—Neale Asato 2-3, double, 2 RBIs; Jarryd Maeda 2-3; Jeffrey Peters 2-3, double. Honoka'a—Joshua Hart 2-4; Mana Bailado 2-3, 3 RBIs; Kurt Nakamura 2-3, triple.
Quarterfinals
WAIAKEA (15-0) 000 104 0 —5 7 2
PEARL CITY (11-5) 000 001 0 —1 7 1
Myles Ioane and Avery Kagawa. Blake Kaneshiro, Austin Jo (7) and Corey Giammalvo. W—Ioane. L—Kaneshiro.
Leading hitters: Waiakea—Matt Patterson 2-3, 2 home runs, 3 RBIs; Mason Suga double; Justin Pascual double. Pearl City—Michael Higa 2-4; Blayne Kamahiai 2-2.
BALDWIN (13-2) 100 000 0—1 7 2
PUNAHOU (18-6) 230 000 x—5 6 0
Jeff Kajiwara, Marcus Makia (2) and Aaron Joyo. Shaun Kiriu and Robert Kurisu. W—Kiriu. L—Kajiwara.
Leading hitters—Baldwin: Shevis Shima 2-3, B. J. Strahan 2-3; Marcus Makia sacrifice fly. Punahou: Michael Lam 2-4, triple, 2 RBIs, stolen base; Kasey Ko double.
LEILEHUA (12-3) 000 010 0 — 1 5 2
'AIEA (13-1) 010 010 x — 2 4 3
John Olley and Jesse Matsuura. Blake Lamug and Aaron Asher. W—Lamug. L—Olley.
Leading hitters: Leilehua—Andrew Ontai double; Bryant Moniz double. 'Aiea—Aaron Asher double; Kepa Wong 2-2, double.
ROOSEVELT (11-5) 000 000 3 — 3 4 1
MID-PACIFIC (17-5) 102 100 x — 4 4 1
Kalani Yoshimura, David Chow (2) and Kevin Fujii. Harrison Kuroda and Kip Masuda. W—Kuroda. L—Yoshimura.
Leading hitters—Roosevelt: Daniel Taniguchi double; Ricky Eusebio inside-park 2-run home run. Mid-Pacific—Ryan Asato 3-3, RBI; Chris Goya 2 walks, 2 runs.
TUESDAY'S LATE GAME
First round
PUNAHOU (17-6) 100 010 1—3 5 3
KAISER (10-4) 000 100 1—2 5 2
Jared Pate and Robert Kurisu. Michael Heu and Jarryd Maeda. W—Pate. L—Heu.
Leading hitters—Punahou: Michael Lam 2-4, triple, RBI; Kasey Ko 2-3, RBI; Shaun Kiriu double.
