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Kailua pounced on two minor Pearl City mistakes to come away with a 1-0 victory in the OIA baseball semifinals Friday at Les Murakami Stadium.
Other than that one run in the bottom of the second, it was a stalemate, with pitchers Bryson Ballesteros of the Surfriders — who finished with a one-hitter — and Kulia Neal of the Chargers in complete control. Now, Kailua (12-2) moves on to face Mililaniin the league final tonight.
Kalua Neves led off the Kailua second with a single to right, and courtesy runner Brandon Sarae gained second base on Dylan Kurahashi Choy-Foo’s bunt single that was fielded by Neal. Unfortunately for Pearl City, no one was covering first. Mistake No. 1. Stone Parker then laid down a bunt that went off the glove of third baseman Jensen Kaya, who might have had a play on Sarae at third. Instead, after the deflection, he went to first for the inning’s first out before the Surfriders’ Dakota Kadooka lofted a sacrifice fly to right for what turned out to be the game’s winning run.
“I think we could have made that play at first,” Chargers shortstop Matt Aribal said. “It was mental mistakes more than physical mistakes.”
Like Kailua, Pearl City (9-5) has already qualified for the Division I state tournament. The Chargers play Campbell in the league’s third-place game today.
The Surfriders are going for their third straight league championship.
“To go for three in a row, that’s a great feeling,” Neves said. “Our team is finally putting together what we can do. We’re putting the bat on the ball and we’re making plays defensively, so we’re looking like we’re in pretty good shape right now.”
Ballesteros was masterful, despite four walks. He struck out eight and the only hit he gave up was to Shawn Iwane in the fifth.
With stolen bases by Aribal, Iwane and Dillon Kaneshiro, Pearl City had runners in scoring position three times but could not capitalize.
“Gotta hit in the clutch, man, or you don’t win,” Chargers first-year coach Wes Yonamine said.
Neal went the distance on the mound for Pearl City, allowing just five hits and walking one. He got out of a jam in the fifth with three straight outs after Jalen Ah Yat singled and Neves followed with a double.
“It was a close game,” Kailua coach Corey Ishigo said. “They (the Chargers) pitched well. They played great defense. We weren’t able to score too many runs today. Bryson threw a lot of strikes. He hit spots and mixed up his pitches really well today. We rely on our pitching and defense. We haven’t been able to score too many runs this year. I feel like we’re a better hitting team than what we’re showing now, so hopefully we’ll come through sooner or later.”
Kailua is going for its 15th OIA title and ninth under Ishigo.
Mililani 6, Campbell 5
The Trojans took an early lead, lost it and then rallied for the victory in the nightcap at Les Murakami Stadium. They’ll play Kailua for the OIA championship tonight.
With five runs in the fourth, the Sabers took a 5-3 lead, but Mililani stormed back with three runs in the top of the fifth. Micah Kaohu’s RBI single put the Trojans on top 6-5.
On the mound, Mililani’s Jayton Pang picked up the win and Vance Oshiro earned the save with three innings of shutout ball.
The Trojans (11-4) are going for their first OIA crown since 1997, when current athletic director Glenn Nitta was the coach.
Kaohu helped preserve the victory with a shoestring catch of Ikaika Ganancial’s liner in the seventh inning.
Both Mililani and Campbell (12-2) have qualified for the Division I state tournament.
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