KANE'OHE — In his 17th year as Castle High School's baseball coach, Joe Tom said he cannot recall anybody hitting a regular-season home run at the Knights' field that traveled as far as Lyle Kitagawa's estimated 420-foot drive yesterday.

And he couldn't be happier with the timing.

Kitagawa's three-run, fifth-inning blast over the tall rock wall and chain-link fence in straight center field lifted Castle to a crucial 3-0 victory over Moanalua and kept the Knights unbeaten at 5-0-1 in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association, just behind Eastern Division leader Kailua (6-0).

Na Menehune fell to 4-2.

"This was a big game for us, one of the most important of the season," said Kitagawa, a senior catcher.

Kitagawa's home run broke up a pitching duel between Castle starter Pulama Silva and Moanalua ace Kekoa Lee, who had allowed only three hits and notched seven strikeouts before Kitagawa came to bat with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.

Lee actually should have been out of the inning, but a routine two-out grounder to short by Brandon Gross surprisingly rolled through the legs of normally sure-handed senior Jay Yoshizawa and into left field.

"That might have been the first error he's made all year," Na Menehune coach Scott Yamada said. "But that's baseball."

Kitagawa capitalized by launching a 1-1 fastball over the 12-foot-high rock wall and 8-foot-high chain-link fence, into a residential back yard.

"It was a fastball, and he left it up," said Kitagawa, who did not see the ball go over the fence. "I was sprinting, and then my third-base coach told me to (ease up). I was shocked."

The 3-0 lead was more than enough for Silva, a right-hander who finished with a one-hitter and nine strikeouts with only one walk.

"The bottom line is he hit his spots and made the pitches when he had to," Yamada said.

MOANALUA (4-2) 000 000 0 — 0 1 1

CASTLE (5-0-1) 000 030 X — 3 5 0

Kekoa Lee and Chris Liu-Sangud; Pulama Silva and Lyle Kitagawa. W — Silva. L — Lee.

Leading hitters — Castle: Silva home run, 3 RBIs.

ROOSEVELT 28, FARRINGTON 5

Daren Fujii and Nick Wong each had four RBIs for the Rough Riders, who scored 19 runs in the first inning.

FARRINGTON (0-6) 0 00 05— 5 3 9

ROOSEVELT (5-0-1) (19)25 2X—28 26 1

Diamond Pedro, Brysn Segundo (4) and Segundo, B. Ganotise (4). Casey Tanabe, Nick Dang (3), Billy Kamau (4), Calvin Sumida (5) and Tyler Nitahara, Sumida (2), Tanabe (5). W — Tanabe. L — Pedro.

Leading hitters — Farrington: Paul Manligot 2-2; Segundo triple, 3 RBIs. Roosevelt: Keoni Manago 2-2; Kamau 2-4, double, 2 runs; Daren Fujii 4-4, 4 RBIs, 3 runs; Nick Wong 2-2, two triples, 4 RBIs, 3 runs; Justin Otaguro 2-4, 2 RBIs, 3 runs; Dang 3 RBIs; Christian Awaya 2-4; Nitahara double, 2 RBIs; Sumida 2-3, 3 RBIs; Tanabe 3-5, 2 RBIs, 2 runs.

Reported by Craig Arakawa

KALANI 3, KAISER 2

Winning pitcher Dillon Matsuda singled in the go-ahead run with two outs in the fifth for the Falcons.

KAISER (4-2) 110 000 0—2 4 0

KALANI (5-1) 200 010 X—3 5 4

Zachary Wong, Toby Inouye (5) and Bryce Marcouiller. Dillon Matsuda, Micah Takahashi (6) and Jason Lee. W — Matsuda. L — Wong. S — Takahashi.

Leading hitters — Kaiser: Dustin Dela Pena RBI; Inouye RBI; Marcouiller double; Matthew Muranaka 2-3. Kalani: Lee 2-3, RBI; Shamus Kumashiro RBI; Matsuda 2-3, RBI.

Reported by Shannon Hirai

KAHUKU 7, MCKINLEY 6

Tima Tapusoa hit a two-out RBI single in the top of the seventh for the Raiders.

KAHUKU (2-5) 210 300 1—7 11 4

MCKINLEY (1-4) 001 320 0—6 12 2

R.J. Van Ness, Steven Van Ness (7) and Kaika Sasaoka. Randy Tuley, Raymond Carey (1), Mike Estes (5) and Kelsen Ganeku. W — Van Ness. L — Estes.

Leading hitters — Kahuku: Sasaoka 2-2; Tima Tapusoa 2-4, 3 RBIs; S. Van Ness 2-4, double; Kamae Jordan 2-2, double; R.J. Van Ness 2-3, 2 RBIs; Kevin Van Ness double. McKinley: Tuley 4-5; Jonathan Ho 2-4; Estes 3-5; Kaimana Balanon 2-3, 2 doubles.

Reported by Judy Liang

KALAHEO 17, KAIMUKI 0

Richard Preza Haynes hit a two-run homer, and Kyle Okumura teamed with Donavan Correa on a one-hitter for the Mustangs.

KALAHEO (1-6) 303 1(10)—17 15 1

KAIMUKI (0-7) 000 0 0— 0 1 6

Kyle Okumura, Donavan Correa (5) and Steven Vega. Masashi Kimura, Ian Delizo (5) and Daren Muramoto. W — Okumura. L — Kimura.

Leading hitters — Kalaheo: Richard Preza Haynes 2-3, homer, triple, 2 RBIs, 3 runs; Alika Ka'anapu 2-4, 3 runs; Okumura 3-4, triple, 2 RBIs, 3 runs; Vega 2-3, double, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Colby Lee 3-4, doube, 3 RBIs, 2 runs.

Reported by Duke Chinen

WESTERN DIVISION

WAI'ANAE 5, 'AIEA 4

Matt Vossen hit a three-run homer in the fourth, and Ben McQuown singled in Quintin Tiapalu with the winning run in the seventh as the Seariders handed Na Ali'i their first loss.

'AIEA (5-1) 010 010 2—4 5 1

WAI'ANAE (5-1) 000 301 1—5 9 1

Cody Aquino, Jared Iwane (6), Blaine Higa (7) and Anthony Tsui. Ben McQuown, Aina Kalaola-Meyer (7) and R.J. Tacgere-Bailey. W — Kalaola-Meyer. L — Higa.

Leading hitters — 'Aiea: Tsui 2-3, double, 2 RBIs. Wai'anae: Quintin Tiapula 2-3, triple, RBI; Matt Vossen 3-run homer.

Reported by Kekoa Kaluhiokalani

KAPOLEI 12, RADFORD 2

Kalani Omoto pitched a two-hitter with nine strikeouts for the Hurricanes.

RADFORD (0-7) 002 00— 2 2 3

KAPOLEI (5-2) 011 73—12 12 1

Brad Osbourne, Nick Navarro (5) and Zach Seitz. Kalani Omoto and Oliver Taoy. W — Omoto. L — Osbourne.

Leading hitters — Kapolei: Kalani Brackenridge 2-4, 2 RBIs, 3 runs; Aaron Santiago 2-4, double, RBI; Michael Kahalehoe 3-3, two doubles, triple, 3 RBIs.

Reported by Tom Ebanez

CAMPBELL 14, WAIALUA 0

Everett Pico and Ryan Asuncion each had two RBIs to lift the Sabers.

WAIALUA (1-5) 000 00— 0 3 3

CAMPBELL (3-3) 248 0X—14 13 1

Bryce Whittaker, Kealiikoa Vierra (3) and Lokahi Herrod. Sebastian Locquiao, Kia Kapana (1), Kevin Newcomb (4) and Cameron Howser, Christian Marquez (4). W — Kapana. L — Whittaker.

Leading hitters — Waialua: Kekoa Ford-Parrish triple. Campbell: Allyn Oliva-Respicio 2-2, RBI, 3 runs; Ivan Verbeckmoes 2-3; Marquez 2-3, triple, 2 runs; Mike Miller-Raymond 2-2, 2 runs; Everett Pico 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Ryan Asuncion double, 2 RBIs.

Reported by Rory Pico

WAIPAHU 10, NANAKULI 0

Kaimi Haina and Samuel Chee each drove in three runs for the Marauders.

NANAKULI (0-7) 000 000— 0 3 2

WAIPAHU (1-5) 102 421—10 9 1

Respicio Lalo, Lanson Koko (4), William Eli-Tido (4), Richie Rosa (6) and Isaiah Tanaka. Tryton Gante and Kaimi Haina. W — Gante. L — Lalo.

Leading hitters —Waipahu: Haina 2-3, double, triple, 3 RBIs; Jarish Komura-Rosete 2-3, RBI; Samuel Chee 3-3, double, 3 RBIs; Jensen Rios 2-3, 2 RBIs.

Reported by Milton Takenaka

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.