Pearl City's Kahana Neal threw his curveball for strikes, was economical with his pitches and got tough with runners on base yesterday against Wai'anae.

Basically, he did things not expected from a sophomore.

Neal pitched a five-hitter with six strikeouts and Bryson Nakamura drove in two runs as host Pearl City beat Wai'anae, 4-1, in an O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red West baseball game.

"He did a good job today," Pearl City coach Gary Nakamoto said of Neal. "He got behind some batters, but he came back, threw strikes and I'm happy for what he did today. He's only a sophomore and he threw a good game for us."

Pearl City, ranked No. 3 in The Advertiser's Top 10 poll, improved to 8-1. Wai'anae, which had won three in a row, dropped to 5-5.

Neal, a right-hander, threw 57 of his 92 pitches for strikes.

"My fastball and my slider were working for me," he said.

In the top of the sixth, Neal allowed a one-out double to Aina Kalaola-Meyer, and Quintin Tiapula reached when the shortstop dropped a pop up.

Neal struck out the next batter for the second out. A wild pitch to the following hitter moved both runners into scoring position, but Neal struck him out to retire the side.

"When I have men on base, I don't really think about them," Neal said. "I just focus on the batter. And I tell myself they aren't going to score, and it works."

He struck out two more in a perfect seventh.

Wai'anae finished 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Its lone run came on a run-scoring single by Kalaola-Meyer in the fourth.

"I think he established his fastball early and he was able to throw his curveball for strikes," said Wai'anae coach Kekoa Kaluhiokalani. "Throwing full-count curveballs, that's tough. That takes some guts."

Neal is the Chargers' No. 3 starter behind left-handed seniors Nakamura and Cory Yuh.

Before the game, Nakamura, who played left field yesterday, gave Neal some advice.

"I told him what I know about the Wai'anae batters to try and help him out," Nakamura said.

"I told him how certain players bat, what is their approach to batting and stuff, what they like to hit. He doesn't really know anyone up here so I just tried to give him advice on the other guys."

The Chargers scored a run in the first on Nakamura's single to left and another in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Carlton Tanabe.

Pearl City tacked on two more runs in the fifth with the help of a throwing error by the Wai'anae pitcher on a bunt attempt that put two runners in scoring position with no outs.

Nakamura's sacrifice fly, and a double steal with runners at the corners scored the runs.

"You get on base, you got to get the runs in anyway you can," Nakamoto said.

Wai'anae starter Bud Pickering, a junior left-hander, allowed seven hits and four runs — two earned — in five innings.

WAI'ANAE (5-5) 000 100 0—1 5 2

PEARL CITY (8-1) 100 120 X—4 7 2

Bud Pickering, Daniel Madrano (6) and R.J. Tacgere-Bailey. Kahana Neal and Carlton Tanabe. W — Neal. L — Pickering.

Leading hitters — Wai'anae: Ben McQuown double; Aina Kalaola-Meyer 2-3, double; Kalei Hensley 2-3. Pearl City: Kurt Poentis 2-3, triple; Bryson Nakamura 2 RBIs; Bryson Namba triple; Jared Nagai double.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8041.

'AIEA 10, CAMPBELL 9

Jacob Aarakawa and Brennan Alejo hit homers in a seven-run, fifth-inning surge, and a runner was tagged out before the potential tying run scored in the top of the seventh as host Na Ali'i (6-3) held off the Sabers (5-4), who rallied with three runs in the seventh.

CAMPBELL (5-4) 000 222 3— 9 11 2

'AIEA (6-3) 120 070 X—10 13 3

Keanu Kapana, Christian Marquez (5), Dane Benz (5), Kia Kapana (5) and Cameron Howser. Tyler Abasial, Keenan Naeole (6), Randy Castillo (6) and Jacob Arakawa. W — Abasial. L — Keanu Kapana.

Leading hitters — Campbell: Bronson Ellis 3-5, double; Keanu Kapana 2-4, 2 doubles, 3 RBIs; Cameron Howser 2-4, 2 doubles; Everett Pico 2-3, double, 3 RBIs. 'Aiea: Brennan Alejo 3-4, homer, 4 RBIs; Jacob Arakawa 1-3, homer, 2 RBIs; Kainoa Ahsing-Kaahanui 2-2, double; Cedric Kojima 1-3, double.

Reported by Ryan Kato

MILILANI 8, LEILEHUA 5

Travis Jones hit a pair of two-run homers, and Andrew Benitez and Kellen Miyasato each drove in two runs to lead the host Trojans (2-8) over the Mules (4-6), who got four RBIs from Bronson Smithe.

LEILEHUA (3-7) 101 020 1—5 8 5

MILILANI (3-7) 022 022 X—8 9 1

Brett Nakasone, Desmond Ontai (3), Darren Baccay (5) and Jayson Cabalce. Ray Sugihara, Dustin Antolin (6) and Kellen Miyasato W — Antolin. L — Baccay.

Leading hitters — Leilehua: Edieson Dumlao 3-4, double; Baccay 2-3; Bronson Smithe double, 4 RBIs. Mililani: Travis Jones 2-2, 2 homers, 4 RBIs; Joey Aquino 2-3; Andrew Benitez double, 2 RBIs; Miyasato 2 RBIs.

Reported by Dean Sato

OIA RED EAST

NO. 5 KAILUA 13, MCKINLEY 0

Reyn Matsuki tossed a five-inning no-hitter with nine strikeouts, and Ryan Kinoshita had a single, double, homer and four RBIs, powering the host and fifth-ranked Surfriders (7-2) over the Tigers (0-9) in an O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red East game shortened to five innings due to the mercy rule.

Scotty Talaesea went 3 for 3, Kale Sumner had a double, homer and two RBIs, and Gavin Kido hit a two-run double for Kailua, which had 15 hits.

MCKINLEY (0-9) 000 00— 0 0 1

KAILUA (7-2) 238 0X—13 15 1

Cody Reyes, Kurtis Kometani (3), Jonathan Ho (3) and Kelsen Ganeku. Reyn Matsuki and Alan Baldwin. W — Matsuki. L — Reyes.

Leading hitters — Kailua: Ryan Kinoshita 3-3, homer, double, 4 RBIs; Kale Sumner 2-3, homer, double, 2 RBIs; Scotty Talaesea 3-3, double; Gavin Kido double, 2 RBIs; Jordan Limahai double; Baldwin double.

Reported by D. Baldwin

NO. 10 CASTLE 11, KALANI 9

Kaliko Cayetano-Tamashiro went 3 for 3 with two RBIs, Kainoa Tom and Josh Serano each had two hits and drove in two runs, and the visiting and 10th-ranked Knights (7-3) rallied for three runs in the seventh to beat the Falcons (3-6) at Kahala Field.

CASTLE (7-3) 203 003 3—11 10 10

KALANI (3-6) 060 012 0— 9 9 1

Kris Kahanu, Micah Koki (2), Josh Serano (6) and Coby Agres. Dillon Matsuda, Dylan Von Wiegandt (2), Sean Nagaoka (7) and Kiel Odo. W — Serano. L — Nagaoka.

Leading hitters — Castle: Kainoa Tom 2-4, double, 2 RBIs, run; Serano 2-4, double, 2 RBIs, run; Kaliko Cayetano-Tamashiro 3-3, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Kalani: Troy Kashiwabara 3-5, run; Ryan Ige 2-2, RBI, 2 runs.

Reported by Shannon Hirai

ROOSEVELT 10, MOANALUA 5

Sean Matsumoto hit a three-run double and T.J. Bae followed with a two-run homer in a seven-run second inning to lead the host Rough Riders (5-5) over Na Menehune (5-5) at Stevenson Middle School field.

MOANALUA (5-5) 111 101 0— 5 10 2

ROOSEVELT (5-5) 070 030 X—10 11 3

Reagan Lum, Landon Yoshikawa (2) and Chris Liu-Saguid. Kelson Okimoto, Tyler Nitahara (6) and Nitahara, Erik Ching (6). W — Okimoto. L — Lum.

Leading hitters — Moanalua: Jordan Monico 1-2, triple, 2 runs, Jared Coloma 3-3, 2 RBIs; Reed Matsumoto 3-4, double; Liu-Saguid 2-3. Roosevelt: Sean Matsumoto 1-4, double, 3 RBIs, Zach Tamasaki 2-4, solo homer; T.J. Bae 2-3, double, 2-run homer, 2 RBIs; Nitahara double; Lowen Kaho'oilihala 2-4; Casey Tanabe 2-3, 2 doubles.

Reported by Craig Arakawa

OIA WHITE

KAHUKU 14, FARRINGTON 4

Wesley Iongi homered and drove in three runs and the host Red Raiders (5-2) scored four runs in the first inning and five in the third in a game called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.

FARRINGTON (2-6) 200 11— 4 3 6

KAHUKU (5-2) 405 41—14 6 3

Alan Lumansoc and Brandon Tuzon. RJ Van Ness, Steven Van Ness (5) and JJ Nozawa. W — RJ Van Ness. L — Lumansoc.

Leading hitters — Farrington: John Kim double, run. Kahuku: S. Van Ness triple, 2 runs; RJ Van Ness triple, 3 runs; Wesley Iongi homer, 3 RBIs.

Reported by Steve Van Ness

KALAHEO 7, KAIMUKI 4

The visiting Mustangs (7-1) broke away from a 4-all tie with single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings to beat the Bulldogs (4-5), who got four-hit pitching from Ian Delizo.

KALAHEO (7-1) 130 110 1—7 4 4

KAIMUKI (4-5) 310 000 0—4 7 3

Richard Preza-Haynes, Aaron Fernandez (4) and Lawaika Bator. Ian Delizo and Eddie Char W — Preza-Haynes. L — Delizo.

Leading hitters — Kalaheo: Colby Lee double; Dylan Schmeding 2 runs. Kaimuki: Kohta Nishitani 2-4, 2 runs; Char 3-4, run.

Reported by Reid Yoshikawa

RADFORD 14, WAIALUA 1

Brad Osborne scattered two hits with six strikeouts over five innings and batted 2 for 4, Jory Simms hit a two-run homer and Zack Seitz drove in two runs to lead the host Rams (5-3-1) over the Bulldogs (2-7).

WAIALUA (2-7) 001 00— 1 2 6

RADFORD (5-3-1) 304 7X—14 7 5

Bryce Whittaker, Anthony Esteban (1), Kaikala Carvalho (4) and Lokahi Herrod, Chris Whittaker (4). Brad Osborne and Zack Seitz. W — Osborne. L — Whittaker.

Leading hitters — Waialua: Herrod 2-3. Radford: Seitz 2 RBIs; Osborne 2-4; Jory Simms 2-run homer; J.D. Sontenot double.

Reported by Lon Passos

WAIPAHU 7, NANAKULI 0

The host Marauders (8-0-1) were awarded the O'ahu Interscholastic Association White Conference victory over the Golden Hawks (0-9), who weren't able to field a team.