Kailua squeezes out a win over Kaiser in OIA opener

It’s a new crop of Surfriders, but the Kailua baseball team still knows how to squeeze home a win in extra innings.

Bryce Ah Sam scored on a straight squeeze in the bottom of the eighth inning and Kailua opened its season with a 2-1 win over Kaiser at Kailua on Wednesday.

With runners on second and third with no outs, Kailua coach Corey Ishigo ordered Keola Himan to squeeze home the winning run. Kaiser pitcher Kelan Yoshioka’s first pitch was wide of the plate and Himan lunged to get the bunt down with Ah Sam rumbling down the line. Ah Sam hesitated for a moment when Himan missed his attempt, but he wasn’t the only one to miss.

Kaiser catcher Makana Lyman got his glove on the ball, but when he turned to tag Ah Sam he dropped the ball. By the time he collected it and lunged for the plate, Ah Sam beat him home with the winning run.

“It was a straight squeeze, coach called it,” Ah Sam said. “When (Himan) missed it, I just thought if I can get into a rundown maybe I could make something happen.”

Ah Sam is not the fleetest of Surfriders, but he got to third when Kaliko Kaimana tried to bunt him over after Ah Sam’s leadoff double. Yoshioka tried to throw him out at third rather than take the sure out, but Ah Sam got just enough of a jump off second to slide under the tag. Ah Sam was 3-for-3 at the plate with an intentional walk.

“We had to try something,” Ishigo said. “We weren’t scoring any runs, so we had to do what we had to do to win.”

Ah Sam, who started on the mound for Kailua, certainly did enough to win. He went seven innings and allowed only five hits while striking out eight despite being ordered to pitch to contact. He left a pair of runners on in the third and fifth innings with strikeouts.

“I could go for it when I needed to,” Ah Sam said.

The only run he allowed came in the fourth inning when he induced a ground ball with a runner on second and two outs, but the Kailua shortstop booted it and Kaiser’s Jeshua Bitanga zipped around third and scored to make it 1-0. Ah Sam got stronger as he went, getting the Cougars in the sixth and seventh before giving way to Himan, who threw a perfect eighth to pick up the win. Ah Sam threw 99 pitches before giving up the ball.

“If it was a playoff game, he would have stayed in,” Ishigo said. “But we are not about to keep him out there to win one regular-season game.”

Kailua evened the score in the fifth when Wade Lono hit a long home run to right field off Lyman, who started the game for Kaiser.

Lyman was nearly Ah Sam’s equal, giving up just five hits in five innings before giving the ball to Yoshioka. Yoshioka threw two scoreless innings before Kailua ended it.

Kailua visits Roosevelt on Saturday, while Kaiser hosts Kalaheo the same day.

At Kailua
Kaiser (0-1)    000    100    00    —    1    5    2
Kailua (1-0)    000    010    01    —    2    5    1
Makana Lyman, Kelan Yoshioka (6) and Yoshioka, Lyman (6). Bryce Ah Sam, Keola Himan (8) and Royce Komesu. W—Himan. L—Yoshioka.
Leading hitters—Kais: Wade Lono 2-4, HR, RBI; Ah Sam 3-3, 2B. Kail: Lyman
2-4.

OIA Red East

Castle 2, Kalani 0
Senior right-hander Christian Kapeliela spun a three-hit shutout to fire the Knights past the Falcons.
Micah Camara and Andre Fraticelli each had two hits for the Knights.

At Kahala Community Park
CASTLE (1-0)    100    000    1    —    2    8    0
KALANI  (0-1)    000    000    0    —    0    3    3
W—Christian Kapeliela. L—Dallas Asuncion.
Leading hitters—Cas: Micah Camara 2-3, RBI; Andre Fraticelli 2-4; Chase Kalama 2b. Kaln: none.

Moanalua 5, Roosvelt 4
Tyler Fujimoto struck out eight to pitch Na Menehune over the Rough Riders.
Losing pitcher Edison Sakata went 3-for-4 with a double for Roosevelt.

At Moanalua
ROOSEVELT (0-1)    200    020    0    —    4    7    4
MOANALUA  (1-0)    120    020    0    —    5    7    3
W—Tyler Fujimoto. L—Edison Sakata.
Leading hitters—Roo: Kainalu Pitoy 2b, Edison Sakata 3-4, 2b, run, 2 RBIs; Taylor Tamanaha 3b. Moa: Elijah Monis 2-3, 2b; Drake Fukushima 2-3, RBI.

OIA RED WEST

Mililani 4, Aiea 0
Kanoa Hironaka fired a three-hit shutout and Troy Kakugawa clubbed a two-run double to lead the Trojans over Na Alii.

Trevor Inouye went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Mililani.

At Mililani
AIEA        (0-1)    000    000    0    —    0    3    2
MILILANI (1-0)    010    021    x    —    4    7    2
Trevor Ling, Jaryn Nakamoto (4) and Hunter Yara. Kanoa Hironaka and Jamesson Madrid. W—Hironaka. L—Ling.
Leading hitters—Aiea: Jay Alcantra 2b. Mil: Trevor Inouye 2-3, RBI; Kanoa Wong 2b, RBI, run; Troy Kakugawa 2b, 2 RBIs.

No. 9 Pearl City 17, Kapolei 3
Tanner Tokunaga crushed a grand slam and Kamalu Neil homered and drove in three runs as the Chargers defeated the Hurricanes.

Pearl City scored four runs in the fifth and nine runs in the sixth to put the game away.

At Kapolei field
Pearl city (0-0)        102    149     —    17    14    1
KAPOLEI (0-0)        000    030     —      3      2    3
Sean Milan, Tanner Tokunaga (6) and Kamalu Neal. Chase Domogsac, Jace Barayuga (4), Jordan Macias (6) and Khaysen Espaniloa. W—Milan. L—Domogsac.
Leading hitters—PC: Tanner Tokunaga 2-4, HR, 2 runs, 4 RBIs; Colby Hirano 2-5, RBI, run; Matt Tsutomi 2-4, 2 2b, RBI, 2 runs; Kyle Tom 2-4, 3 runs; Kamalu Neil 2-2, HR, 3 RBIs; Sean Milan 2-4, 2 RBIs. Kap: none.

Campbell at Leilehua
The Campbell-Leilehua game was postponed due to unplayable field conditions. The game will be played at 3:30 p.m. today at Campbell.

ILH SOFTBALL

No. 1 Kamehameha 12, West Pac 0
The top-ranked Warriors pushed across 12 runs in four innings to overwhelm the Wolverines.
Kamehameha scored in every inning.

At Kamehameha field
WESTPAC (0-1)    000    00    —     0    1    6
KS              (1-0)    351    3x    —    12    8    2
W—K. Dung. L—D. Ford.
Leading hitters—WP: none. KS: K. Sanchez 2-3, 2 RBIs; C. Hipa 2b, 3 RBIs.

No. 3 Maryknoll 14, Sacred Hearts 0
Shearyna Labasan went the distance for Maryknoll, giving up one hit while striking out 11, and the

Spartans exploded for 13 runs in the top of the seventh to defeat the Lancers.

Carolann Toyama hit a grand slam and drove in six runs.

At Crane Park
MARY. (1-0)    000    010    (13)    —    14    16    0
SHA     (0-1)    000    000      0       —     0     1    6
Labasan and Toyama, Kasey Magdadaro (7). Jordan Waracka, Kaua Ahuihui-Awa (7) and Jamie Toler. W—Labasan. L—Waracka. Leading hitters—MS: Carolann Toyama 3-5, 2b, HR, 2 runs, 6 RBIs; Mylee Enos 3-5, 3 RBIs, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Tamia Hirano 2-3, 2 runs, RBI; Erica Inagaki 2-5, run, RBI; Miki Takara 2-5, run; Labasan 2-5, 2 runs, RBI.

St. Francis 9, No. 5 ‘Iolani 6

Winning pitcher Shay Simms had three of her team’s 17 hits as the Saints upset the Raiders.
St. Francis jumped on ‘Iolani early, scoring two in the first and three in the second.

At Ala Wai Community Park
STF       (1-0)    230    102    1    —    9    17    4
‘IOLANI (0-1)    012    003    0    —    6    8    2
Shay Simms and Kelsie Hee. Taylor Garcia-Perreira, Robi Kodama (5) and Cassie Ho. W—Simms. L—Garcia-Perreira.
Leading hitters—SF: Shay Simms 3-4, 2b, RBI; Rachel Carlos 3-4, 2b, 2 RBIs, run; K. Santos 4-5, 3 runs; Danelle Antolin 2-5, 2b, 3 runs. Iol: Alyssa Liilii 2-3; Cassie Ho 2-3, RBI, run; Alyssa Espiritu 2 RBIs; Kaulawena Reis-Moniz 2b, RBI.

No. 10 Punahou 10, Pac-Five 0

Jaci Young tossed a two-hit, five-inning shutout and Amber Popovich drove in three runs to lead the Buffanblu over the Wolfpack.

At Punahou
PAC-FIVE   (0-1)    000    00    —     0      2    0
PUNAHOU (1-0)    123    4x    —    10    11    0
Kaleihiwa Ah New and Kailee Russell. Jaci Young and Kylie Popovich. W—Young. L—Ah New.
Leading hitters—P5: none. Pun: Thalen Masada 3 runs; Nicole Nishizawa 2 RBIs; Vanessa Va‘a 2-3, HR, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Ari Hashimoto 2-2, 3b, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Amber Popovich 2-3, 2b, 3 RBIs.

TUESDAY’S OIA SOFTBALL

Kaimuki 8, Kailua 5

Late Tuesday
At Kailua
KAIMUKI (1-0)    100    030    4    —    8    8    2
KAILUA   (0-1)    200    002    1    —    5    7    3
Ehlen Awaya and Seplynn Aikau. Shaelyn Kumai-Farrell, Delcie Williams (4), Shaydon Apela-Moku (7) and Jaime Lasconia, Tiani Lastimosa. W—Awaya. L—Williams.
Leading hitters—Kaim: Elise Inouye 2-4, 2b, RBI; Alison Pologa 2-4, 2b, 2 RBIs; Lani Peterson 2b, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Darla Amond 2 RBIs. Kail: Apela-Moku 2-3, 2b, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Moani Kupahu 2-3, 2b, 3b; Kumai-Farrell 2b, RBI.