Joey Cantillo couldn’t get his groove going, he says.
The tall southpaw gave up a first-inning home run, but mixed his fastball and slider enough to finish with a five-hitter as Kailua rallied past Leilehua 5-2 on Thursday afternoon at the Surfriders’ field.
Kailua sealed a spot in the state tournament with the win and also advanced to the OIA semifinal round. The Surfriders (11-2) will play Mililani Friday afternoon at Patsy Mink Central Oahu Regional Park.
Leilehua is still alive in the hunt for a state-tournament berth. The Mules will play Friday in a consolation game, with the winner advancing to the state tourney.
At Kailua, Cantillo struck out five and walked two.
"To be honest, there wasn’t really one pitch strong for me. I know I have a really good team and they’ll get runs behind me as long as we stay strong defensively," Cantillo said.
"It’s good. We’ve got a chance in the state tourney," Kailua coach Corey Ishigo said. "Leilehua pitched well and got out of jams, but Joey has a strong mind and a big heart. A lot of that is because of his dad (John). I’ve coached him for a long time and I’d trust him in any situation."
Leilehua (6-7-1) was coming off a 10-0 play-in win over Castle on Wednesday.
"We have confidence in all of our pitchers, but they’ve got to throw strikes," Mules coach Lane Watanuki said. "We’ve got to change our approach and not try to jack the pitcher, just hit line drives. Tomorrow’s another day."
The Mules got a one-out opposite-field homer by Jared Academia in the top of the first inning. His fly ball carried with the wind, and made it over the right-field fence 310 feet away.
The Mules added another run when Academia’s safety squeeze brought Ricky Van Gelder home from third for a 2-0 lead. From there, however, Cantillo allowed just one hit until the seventh.
Kailua stranded six runners on base against Leilehua starter Wayne Abear in the first three innings.
The Surfriders scored in the bottom of the second on Kalei Machado’s sacrifice fly, scoring Keiki Kanahele-Santos from third.
The Surfriders took the lead with three runs in the fourth. Abear retired the first batter and was removed in favor of Christian Ontai.
The lefty threw a big curveball, but hit two batters during the inning that proved to be a momentum-changer. Machado scored from third when Dustin Imanaka was hit by pitch with the bases loaded, tying the game at 2. Brendan Odo then socked a single to right, scoring Matt Hanano for a 3-2 lead. Noah Auld later was hit by a pitch, bringing home Imanaka from third.
Leilehua loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but Cantillo got Trayson Kubo to fly out to center for the final out.
| AT KAILUA |
| LEILEHUA (6-7-1) |
110 |
000 |
0 |
— |
2 |
5 |
1 |
| KAILUA (11-2) |
010 |
310 |
X |
— |
5 |
9 |
3 |
Wayne Abear, Christian Ontai (4), Teaugan Eckstrom (4), Jared Academia (5) and Kebi Dellatan. Joey Cantillo and Dalton Kalama. W–Cantillo. L–Ontai.
Leading hitters–Leilehua: Academia 1-3, HR, 2 RBIs, run; Ontai 2-2, double. Kailua: Dustin Imanaka 2-2, run, walk; Brendan Odo 1-2, double, RBI, 2 walks; Noah Ah Yat 2-4, double, run.
OIA RED PLAYOFFS
No. 1 Campbell 8, Kalani 0
Dorrien Villanueva-Hermosura led the Sabers’ offense and defense in a shutout of the Falcons.
| AT CAMPBELL |
| KALANI |
000 |
000 |
0 |
— |
0 |
3 |
2 |
| CAMPBELL |
120 |
041 |
X |
— |
8 |
9 |
1 |
Duke Fujii, Christopher Nam (5), Reo Hasunuma (6) and Bronson Matsumoto. Dorrien Villanueva-Hermosura, Dylan Florentin (7) and Tryzen Patricio.
W–Villanueva-Hermosura. L–Fujii.
Leading hitters–Campbell: Dewayne Sprinkel 2-4, 2 runs; Jobe Ibana 2-4, 3b, run; Villanueva-Hermosura 2-4, 2b, 3b, 3 RBIs; Keola Himan 2 RBIs, run; Patricio 3b, RBI.
No. 3 Mililani 6, Moanalua 0
Micah Chinen pitched a four-hitter and Sean Sonognini had a double and two RBIs as the Trojans beat Na Menehune.
| At Mililani |
| MOANALUA |
000 |
000 |
0 |
— |
0 |
4 |
3 |
| MILILANI |
400 |
110 |
X |
— |
6 |
9 |
1 |
Reyn Oumaye, Brandon Ikehara (4), Ian Fujitani (5), Dane Nishimura (6) and Andrew Oasay. Micah Chinen and Sean Sonognini.
W–Chinen. L–Oumaye.
Leading hitters–Moanalua: Micah Nicely 2b. Mililani: Kainoa Wilson 2-3 2b; Sonognini 2b, 2 RBIs; Justice Nakagawa 2-3, 2b.
Also
Kaiser 8, Pearl City 7, 8 inn.
OIA WHITE PLAYOFFS
Kalaheo 9, Waialua 5
Alfred Catimon pitched four scoreless innings of relief with five strikeouts and Kaliu Lapera and Abel Kanehe both homered in the Mustangs’ seven-run third inning.
| At Kailua District Park |
| WAIALUA |
010 |
400 |
0 |
– |
5 |
4 |
2 |
| KALAHEO |
107 |
100 |
X |
— |
9 |
10 |
2 |
Royce Tashiro, Mila Lele (3), Matthan Hatchie (5) and Hatchie, Lele (5). Jack Bell, Kekai Smith (3), Thomas Capllonch (4), Alfred Catimon (4) and Kaliu Lapera. W–Catimon. L–Tashiro.
Leading hitters–Waialua: Hatchie 2b. Kalaheo: Matthew Sasaki 3b, 2 RBIs; Lapera HR, 3 RBIs; Abel Kanehe HR, 2 RBIs.
Farrington 11, Nanakuli 5
The Governors rallied with five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to defeat the Golden Hawks.
| AT DESA FIELD |
| NANAKULI |
050 |
000 |
0 |
— |
5 |
8 |
5 |
| FARRINGTON |
103 |
520 |
X |
— |
11 |
9 |
3 |
Brayden Ramaila, Nainoa Banks (4) and Zayn Kaaihue-Vasconcellos, Ramaila (4). Paul Madamba, Stanley Misioka (4) and Brett Walden.
W–Misioka. L–Ramaila.
Leading hitters–Nanakuli: Ramaila 2-4, RBI; Banks 2-4, 2b, RBI, run; Chayson Hoopai 3b, RBI. Farrington: Kody Leiu 3-4, 3b, RBI, 3 runs; Walden 2-3, 3b, RBI, run; Chasen Castilliano 2 RBIs.
Also
MIL
Division I
Baldwin 11, Kamehameha-Maui 1, 5 inn.
Division II
Molokai 15, Lanai 0, 3 inn.
St. Anthony 8, Seabury Hall 3
biif
Kamehameha-Hawaii 7, Konawaena 2
Kamehameha-Hawaii 7, Konawaena 0
OIA RED EAST SOFTBALL
Castle 11, Roosevelt 9
Despite blasting four home runs, the Rough Riders fell to the Knights in their final conference game.
| AT CASTLE |
| ROOSEVELT (6-6) |
220 |
130 |
1 |
— |
9 |
10 |
2 |
| CASTLE (7-5) |
420 |
041 |
X |
— |
11 |
10 |
3 |
Mari Foster and Haylie Uetake. Asia Igafo and Taylor Ah-Mook Sang.
W–Igafo. L–Foster.
Leading hitters–Roosevelt: Tyra Wallrabenstein 4-5, two HRs, 6 RBIs; Katie Debusca 3-4, two HRs, 3 RBIs; Kaohi Kapiko 3b. Castle: Paige Matsuki HR, 2 RBIs; Kaylee Ishii 2-4; Darrien Dacosin 2b; Igafo 3-4, two 3bs, 7 RBIs; Kacie Lam 2-3.
Also
Moanalua 15, McKinley 3, 5 inn.
No. 6 Kaiser 5, Kailua 4
OIA RED WEST SOFTBALL
No. 1 Campbell 8, Kapolei 6, 10 inn.
The Sabers mustered up two runs in the top of the tenth inning to edge the Hurricanes.
| AT KAPOLEI |
| CAMP (11-1) |
010 |
010 |
004 |
2 |
— |
8 |
18 |
1 |
| KAPOLEI (5-7) |
000 |
200 |
004 |
0 |
— |
6 |
12 |
4 |
Danielle Cervant, Elisa Favella (7) and Kiana Ulufale. Sadie Kapaku-You and Lili Kaimi.
W–Favella. L–Kapaku-You.
Leading hitters–Campbell: Cydney Curran 3-5, run; Favella 3-6, 2b, HR, RBI; Sierra Mariano 2-4; Nashlyn Anguay 3-6, 3b, 2 RBIs, run; Darien Robinson 2-5, HR, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Ulufale 2b, RBI; Kyra Hoohuli 2b. Kapolei: Makana Meyers 4-6, 2b, HR, 2 RBIs, run; Alecia Kupihea 4-5, RBI, run; Kaimi 2b; Laugatausala Pedebone HR, RBI, run.
No. 4 Mililani 13, Leilehua 4
Kylie-Ann Bello batted 2-for-3 with four RBIs and Merilis Rivera went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs as the Trojans beat the Mules.
| At Kaala Field |
| MILILANI (10-1-1) |
130 |
510 |
3 |
— |
13 |
15 |
1 |
|
| LEILEHUA (4-8) |
110 |
011 |
0 |
— |
4 |
8 |
1 |
Aubree Kim and Markie Okamoto. Chasity Stalcup, Chelsea Lobitos (5) and Staisa Micky.
W–Kim. L–Stalcup.
Leading hitters–Mililani: Keri Togami 2-5; Kylie-Ann Bello 2-3, 4 RBIs; Kristen Ishii 2-5, 2b; Merilis Rivera 2-4, HR, 3 RBIs; Tristan Cozo HR; Brooke Yasuda 2-3; Shannon Pascua-Stanton 2-4; Okamoto 2-3, HR. Leilehua: Tiana Cantero-Kawelo 2-3, HR, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Mahealani Calizo 2-4, 2b; Shanaye Mattson HR.
