Aholelei sisters key to a formula that keeps Kaiser cruising

Kaiser used a formula it has followed all season: some clutch hitting, a stingy defense, and a lot of help from the Aholelei sisters to win a battle between the OIA’s final undefeated teams.

All four sisters had a hand in the team’s 6-4 home victory over Roosevelt on Tuesday afternoon, helping the Cougars improve to 6-0 while the Rough Riders dropped to 5-1.

“Since the first game we played against Moanalua, we did the same thing. I guess that’s the DNA of this team,” Kaiser coach Mitch Matsumoto said. “They’re real good.”

Pitcher and cleanup hitter Primrose Aholelei earned the win on the mound and had two hits and two RBIs, while Christiana Aholelei led the way offensively with two hits and a game-high three RBIs.

Kaiser took an early lead when leadoff hitter Tahani Kahawai-Robinson and Ivane Aholelei walked to start the game, and Christiana Aholelei’s two-out ground rule double drove both in. The Cougars exited the first inning with a 2-0 lead.

Primrose Aholelei cruised through the first three frames, giving up just one hit. The second hit she surrendered was a solo inside-the-park home run to Jaeda Cabunoc in the fourth inning that cut the Cougar lead in half.

The Rough Riders tied things up in the fifth when Kylie Kawamura’s grounder to second with the bases loaded and two outs scored Logan Brown from third.

Primrose Aholelei got out of the jam when she struck out Tiani Sniffen.

The Cougars took the lead back in the bottom of the fifth when Primrose Aholelei’s single with two outs and the bases loaded scored Tehani Keola-Aquino and Kahawai-Robertson. Christiana Aholelei’s single to right field in the next at-bat brought in Precious Aholelei from third, extending the Kaiser lead to 5-2.

“Usually I’m a pull hitter but I decided to wait on the ball today. Her pitches were accurate and quick,” Christiana Aholelei said. “I just had to adjust my swing. Seeing all my teammates on base, I just thought of bringing them in and that’s what happened.”

Ivane Aholelei’s single in the bottom of the sixth inning scored Nala Dombrowski and gave Kaiser a 6-2 lead, providing some insurance that the Cougars needed at the top of the seventh.

Jadalee Takara doubled to start the final frame and Hoku Ching followed with a home run. Maya Nakamura followed with a double, but became a victim of the look back rule for the first out of the inning when she tried to advance to third. Because Primrose Aholelei had control of the ball in the pitcher’s circle while Nakamura tried to advance, she was ruled out after a meeting between the umpires.

“They thought everybody was not paying attention so they went over to third base. But according to us, we already had the ball in the circle,” Matsumoto explained. “That’s a look back rule. You can’t do that, so that’s an automatic out.

“If she didn’t have the ball and she was out of the circle, then they could have ran back because the play is still going on.”

After the first out of the inning, Primrose Aholelei got Kylie Kawamura and Cabunoc to fly out to end the game.

“I thought they were gonna score more runs after,” she said. “I feel pretty good about where we are, we just need more work on our defense and hitting.”

Aholeilei tossed a complete game, striking out four and walking one while giving up eight hits. Cabunoc also went the distance for Roosevelt. She gave up seven hits while striking out two and walking four.

The win gives Kaiser the lead in the OIA East, but Matsumoto acknowledged after that it would take more for his team to dethrone Roosevelt, which won the division last year.

“We’re 6-0 so of course we feel good, but the bad thing is we gotta play them again,” he said. “The wind on this field held up a lot of fly balls for them for our outfielders to get. When we play them again, it’s not gonna be like that. We gotta really work on our pitching. That’s a good team.”