Kailua wallops Roosevelt, 11-1

With three hits to his credit, a walk turned out to be Bryson Dymond’s biggest at-bat.

The senior first baseman drew a five-pitch base on balls to force in a run, enabling the mercy rule as Kailua defeated Roosevelt 11-1 in six innings in the first round of the Wally Yonamine Foundation Baseball State Championship yesterday at Les Murakami Stadium.

Dymond finished 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, and Alan Baldwin drove in three runs without a hit as the Surfriders (14-1-1) advanced to play No. 1 seed Saint Louis tonight at 7.

“Whatever benefits our team and helps them I’ll take every time,” Dymond said. “After last week we made sure to get physically and mentally prepared to handle all of this.”

Kailua suffered its first loss of the season in the Oahu Interscholastic Association semifinals, missing out on a chance to earn a first-round bye.

As a result, the Surfriders will meet the Crusaders in the last of four quarterfinal games tonight. Both teams are ranked in the top five of the Star-Advertiser Top 10.

“They’re good, but it’s going to be a good game because we’re good too,” pitcher Jake Cobb-Adams said.

Cobb-Adams rebounded from his last start, when he didn’t make it out of the second inning in a 7-6 loss to Pearl City.

The 5-foot-8 junior didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning and went the distance, giving up one run on three hits with four walks and three strikeouts.

“This time around he went back to basics,” Kailua coach Corey Ishigo said. “He did all the pitching drills he was supposed to and looked like the Jake from the beginning of the year.”

Roosevelt’s only run came in the first inning without a ball ever leaving the infield. Cobb-Adams walked Drayson Ito and Brandon Hamasaki, who both advanced into scoring position on stolen bases. Randon Mamuad reached out and poked a ball hard enough to second to allow Ito to score.

Kailua quickly answered in the bottom of the inning, scoring four times off Roosevelt starter Edison Sakata. Wyatt D’Alessio delivered the big blow with a two-run single to give Cobb-Adams plenty of run support.

“It gave me a lot of confidence,” Cobb-Adams said. “Made it a lot easier to pitch.”

Mikaele Caris broke up the no-hitter with a single to start the fifth and Leland Kahooilihala and Mamuad had the other two hits for Roosevelt (9-8), which will play Kamehameha-Maui in a consolation game today at 9 a.m.

Tyler Tokunaga added a key insurance run with a two-out RBI triple in the sixth inning and the Chargers (11-5) advanced to play fourth-seeded Waiakea in the quarterfinals today at 11:30 a.m. Tanner Tokunaga doubled and scored a run to support pitcher Isaac Shim, who threw a four-hit complete game to earn the win. Cody Pundyke went the distance for the Warriors (7-8), allowing six hits and two earned runs with no walks and five strikeouts.

Tyler Higa made a running catch in the gap in right-center with the tying run at second base to end the game and move the Vikings (10-3) into a quarterfinal game against second-seeded Moanalua today at 2. Aaron Craig-Higa went 2-for-2 with an RBI double in the seventh as the Mules (10-7) scored three times to pull within a run before falling short. Dustin Tagawa singled and drove in two runs and earned the win, allowing eight hits and four earned runs in seven innings with one walk and three strikeouts.