Mililani stormed to a big first-inning lead and rode the pitching of Koa Eastlack to a 7-2 baseball victory over Campbell on Wednesday in Ewa Beach.
Eastlack, a left-hander, struck out nine batters and exited after four innings with a 7-1 lead before Justin Ogasawara and Keolu Ramos finished up the Oahu Interscholastic Association West game.
“We were more aggressive at the plate today than we’ve been,” Trojans head coach Mark Hirayama said. “And with Koa on the mound, he’s going to be around the plate and he’s got pretty good stuff, so he’s always going to keep us in ballgames. It was nice to have the run support today.”
Aris Nakagawa drilled a two-run single, Ramos had an RBI basehit and Ryan Kono delivered a two-run triple to give the sixth-ranked Trojans (5-1) a 5-0 first inning lead before Eastlack even made it to the mound.
Then came lots of swinging and missing by the Sabers (2-4). Eastlack fanned the first two batters he faced and struck out the side on three straight batters in the second. He also struck out the side in the third while giving up three hits, including an RBI single to Jordan Macias.
“Koa changes speeds and changes his release point a little bit,” Hirayama said. “You know, he knows how to pitch. He’s not afraid to go after guys and that’s the biggest thing.”
After pushing across two runners in the third on Kono’s RBI single and CJ Ibara’s sacrifice fly, the Trojans’ bats went silent. Sabers reliever Dylan Florentin, who came in for starter Jamin Kalaola to get the final out of the first, was effective in giving up just two hits and those two runs while striking out six in his 51⁄3 innings.
Campbell left eight runners on base, including seven in scoring position. Macias came through with his second RBI with a two-out infield hit in the seventh, but the game ended with runners on first and third.
“We were able to get runners in scoring position, but couldn’t clutch up at the right times,” Florentin said. “We were swinging at pitches that weren’t strikes or not in our zone.”
Kono came up big at the plate for Mililani, breaking out of a self-proclaimed slump by going 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
“Oh yeah, before this, I couldn’t make adjustments at the plate,” he said. “Pitches would get blown by me, not even high velocity. I had to work on the small things at practice. It’s the approach. Before, I had no confidence and was being too selective. Today, I was trying to open it up and be aggressive and stick with the swing because I know it’s there.”
Campbell head coach Rory Pico knew his team was in a deep hole after that five-run first.
“They bunched their hits together in the first inning and if you fall behind a team like Mililani and their strong pitching staff, it’s tough,” he said. “(Kalaola) was down, but he was over the plate, and when you’re over the plate like that, Mililani will make you pay. It was the first inning and you gotta find out what the strike zone is. If we’re not going to get the corners, we gotta go on the plate a little bit. It’s something we’re going to talk about with the catcher (Bronson Burr) and the pitching coach (Dave
Perreira).
“It’s very disappointing coming out on the short end. It happens. You fall behind and you wanna see your team fight back. The last four innings, we had a guy in scoring position and we couldn’t score ‘em. Their pitchers made good pitches.”
