The Kaiser baseball team will have plenty of time to come up with a way to make a big comeback.

The Cougars will get a full game and two days to figure out how to overcome Kailua after the Surfriders pounded them for an 11-4 lead after 5½ innings on Thursday at Kaiser. The game was suspended because of darkness and will resume Monday at 3:30 p.m. Kailua and Kaiser play again in Kailua today at 3:30.

The first pitch of Thursday’s game was scheduled for 3:30 p.m. but didn’t happen until 4:19 because the umpires were late to the field.

At least they got some baseball in; umpires didn’t even show up to the Castle-Kalani game due to what OIA baseball coordinator Glenn Nitta called a “miscommunication on our part.”

Castle will play its regularly scheduled game at Kahala Community Park at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, then make up the missed game Monday at 3:30 at Castle.

“Who knows, six more outs, who knows what can happen?” Kaiser coach Mark Rasmussen said. “The only thing I know is that these kids won’t quit.”

Kailua made a statement as the top team in the OIA East, scoring four runs in the fourth and five in the sixth before the game was suspended.

Kahaku Iaea had the telling blow, lifting a grand slam over the fence in right field. Kila Zuttermeister went 4-for-4 with hits off three different pitchers.

“Finally we stayed back and hit the ball where we were supposed to,” Kailua coach Corey Ishigo said. “Early in the game we were selfish and trying to pull everything.”

Kailua starting pitcher Elijah Davidann got eight outs before being lifted, and Kaiser’s Jordan Alcoran got 11 outs. Both starters had to warm up twice before the game, but the coaches said that had little to do with the short starts.

“He wasn’t in his normal routine,” Rasmussen said of Alcoran. “His routine changed, but it was the same for both teams.”

Kailua leads the OIA Red East at 9-1, with Kaiser right behind at 8-2. The Cougars would have to beat the Surfriders today at Kailua, then find a way to turn an 11-4 deficit into a win before making six outs on Monday to win the division.

OIA RED WEST SOFTBALL

Waianae 4, Leilehua 2

Raelene Diorec pitched a six-hitter, and Leanna Meyer had a two-run double in the fifth inning as the Seariders beat the Mules.