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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, May 18, 2006

Rain plays havoc with opening-round games

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

WAILUKU, Maui — A rematch between two-time defending state baseball champion Punahou and 2005 state runner-up Kailua will have to wait another day.

Heavy rains last night turned Iron Maehara Stadium into a muddy mess and forced officials to suspend the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Baseball State Championships midway through the four-game opening round.

"The field is unplayable, particularly around the first base area," said HHSAA Executive Director Keith Amemiya, who added the county did not have enough drying materials for the field. "The teams were having difficulty running the basepaths, and playing defense in the infield because it was so muddy."

The Punahou-Kailua game is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. today with Punahou leading visiting Kailua, 6-3, entering the bottom of the fourth inning. That game will be immediately followed by the first-round matchup between Maui and Castle.

Admission will not be charged for the Punahou-Kailua and Maui-Castle games. The stadium will be cleared for the quarterfinal games, and admission will be charged thereafter, Amemiya said.

The consolation game between the losers of the Punahou-Kailua game and Maui-Castle game originally scheduled for 9 a.m. today will be rescheduled for tomorrow at a site and time to be announced, Amemiya said.

The officials "were just worried about our safety, and that's understandable," Punahou designated hitter Bucky Aona said. "Hopefully, we can keep the momentum going into (today's) game."

Kailua coach Corey Ishigo said: "As long as we get a chance to play, that's all I ask for. Nobody can play in this kind of conditions. I wish we could, but unfortunately the field isn't playable right now."

WAIAKEA 3, MOANALUA 2

Daren Takasaki fired a two-hitter and Waiakea rallied past Moanalua.

The Warriors (10-2) advance to today's quarterfinal against Maui Interscholastic League champion and third-seeded Baldwin (11-1).

Moanalua (11-3) scored two unearned runs off Takasaki in the top of the fifth inning on one hit and two errors. John Estores scored on a throwing error by Takasaki, and Kekoa Lee raced home when Markus Miyashiro got caught in a rundown between first and second.

Waiakea scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth on Kevin Seaver's sacrifice fly, and RBI singles by Jarom Lee and Kekoa Yockman.

"It was a tough battle," said Takasaki, a 6-foot-4 senior right-hander. "My offense and defense backed me up today. We have a lot of momentum going into the next game."

Miyashiro's bunt single in the fifth inning broke up Takasaki's no-hitter.

Takasaki finished with three strikeouts, one walk and two hit batters.

KAISER 10, WAIMEA 3

Nanea Baird went 3 for 4 with three RBIs, and Toby Inouye and Andy Uehara combined on a seven-hitter as Kaiser routed Waimea in a first-round game.

Kaiser (12-2) will play Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion and second-seeded Kamehameha-O'ahu (12-8) today at 2 p.m.

"Kamehameha is coming off three great wins against Punahou," Baird said of the Warriors, who defeated two-time defending state champion Punahou three times last week to win the ILH overall title. "They're a great team. We want to come out with the same philosophy and come out strong."

Kaiser scored three unearned runs off Kelly Batis in the top of the first inning on Jarryd Maeda's RBI single and Baird's two-run double.

The Cougars added six runs in the second inning when they sent 11 batters to the plate. Noel Okuma, Scott Uehara and Baird had run-scoring singles, Colby Ho and Kahanu Chan each had RBI doubles, and Joe Honma added a squeeze.

Kaiser made it 10-0 in the third inning on Ho's sacrifice fly.

Waimea (11-2) cut the deficit to 10-1 in the fifth inning on Brenden Hew's run-scoring triple, and added two more runs in the seventh inning on an error.

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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