It was almost unfair, the way Joey Cantillo pitched Saturday night.
With four major league scouts watching, the 6-foot-4 left-hander was overpowering and crafty in striking out 18 batters and spinning a two-hitter in No. 5 Kailua’s 5-0 victory over No. 6 Kalani at Hans L’Orange Park.
When Cantillo missed on a pitch through the first five innings, he didn’t miss by much and was way ahead of the Falcons batters all night. With good movement on his fastballs, an effective change-up and a looping curveball, the Kalani boys continued to guess and miss — and usually with a swing that was too late.
“We expect Joey to pitch like that, consistent like he was tonight,” Surfriders head coach Corey Ishigo said. “It was a great outing from him.”
With the win, the Surfriders (4-1) moved into a first-place tie with the Falcons (4-1) in the hotly contested Oahu Interscholastic Association East. The same two teams made it to the league championship game a year ago, when Kailua prevailed 7-5.
At one point, Cantillo fanned nine of the first 10 batters he faced and continued to cruise after Kalani’s Kohl Suehiro broke up his no-hit bid with a single to right in the fourth.
The night, however, was not without difficulty for the senior fireballer. In the fifth, Marquis’ Morgan hit to right, a walk and an error loaded the bases with one out. Cantillo’s competitive fierceness kicked in and he blew third-strike fastballs by the swinging Travis Toyama and Bronson Matsumoto — the third and fourth batters in the Falcons’ order.
After getting out of that real danger, Cantillo took a look at the Kalani dugout, let out a grunt and then looked back toward the plate and yelled, “Let’s go,” to himself before heading to his own dugout.
“We swung the bats,” Falcons head coach Shannon Hirai said. “But we’ve gotta hit him to get anywhere in this division. We did a good job later in the game. In the beginning, we were trying to kill the ball instead of putting it in play and that got us off to a slow start. Without that one bad inning, it’s an interesting game.”
In that decisive bottom of the second inning, Cantillo contributed with some power at the plate, smoking a 3-2 pitch to right-center for a two-run double that multiplied a slim 2-0 lead to 4-0. A bit earlier in the inning, Cody Riturban’s run-scoring single and Matthew Kaleiohi’s RBI fielder’s choice give the Surfriders that 2-0 advantage. The offensive outburst helped chased Kalani starter Eddie Lee in the third, and two Falcons relievers came in to allow just one more Kailua run the rest of the way.
“They’re a great team, a tough team, always battling, always up, so it was good to get a little pressure on us and see that we battled through that and got out of that inning,” Cantillo said. “A good confidence-builder for us.”
Kalani’s Suehiro, after explaining that he shortened his swing to get that fourth-inning hit, said, “He’s one of the hardest pitchers we’ve faced this year. He hides the ball well when he leg kicks, dropping the ball (lower). He doesn’t really change his arm speed, so his offspeed was working, too.”
And then Suehiro knowingly laughed a split-second after summing up the night: “He was just throwing hard.”
OIA EAST BASEBALL
No. 5 Kailua 5, No. 6 Kalani 0
At Hans L’Orange Park
Kalani (4-1) 000 000 0 — 0 2 2
Kailua (4-1) 040 001 X — 5 9 1
Eddie Lee, Micah Kawano (3), Jarod Kaneshiro (6) and Bronson Matsumoto. Joey Cantillo and Kalua Neves. W—Cantillo. L—Lee.
Leading hitters—Kail: Matthew Kaleiohi 2-4, RBI, 2 runs; Cantillo 3-4, 2b, 2 RBIs.
Moanalua 13, Kalaheo 1, 5 inn.
At Kalaheo
Moanalua (3-2) 023 80 — 13 12 3
Kalaheo (0-5) 100 00 — 1 1 7
Austyn Kometani, Christian Capinia (3), Bryson Sato (5) and Andrew Oasay, Wade Naguwa (4). Curtis Chung Jr., Evan Goad (5) and Lono Hussey. W—Kometani. L—Chung.
Leading hitters—Moan: Ryne Oshiro 2-4, 2b, 3b, 3 RBIs, run; Tyler Trim 2b, 2 runs, RBI; Oasay 2-3, HR, 2b, 2 RBIs, run; Cody Isa 3 runs; Kamuela Labasan 3b, 2 RBIs, run; Tyler Nakata 2-3, 3 RBIs, run; Kaz Tachino 2-3, 2 runs; Skyler Yamamoto 2b, RBI. Kalh: Goad 1-2, 2b.
OIA WEST BASEBALL
Waipahu 5, Aiea 1
At Waipahu
Aiea (2-2) 000 010 0 — 1 2 3
Waipahu (3-2) 000 500 X — 5 6 0
Teron Kitashima, Ethan Bautista (4) and Jake Nakamoto. Kobie Russell and Cole Phillips. W—Russell. L—Kitashima.
Leading hitters—None.
OIA DIVISION II BASEBALL
Waianae 17, Kaimuki 3
At Kaimuki
Waianae (3-0) 210 700 7 — 17 17 1
Kaimuki (1-2) 020 001 0 — 3 3 6
Kaleo Akiona, Braiden Ayala (7) and EJ Keamo-Young. KB Palsis, Christopher Bryant (4), Jamon Young (5) and Kaulana Kaluna. W—Akiona. L—Palsis.
Leading hitters—Wain: Braedyn Chong 4-4, 2 runs, RBI; Matthew Orian 3-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Teva Foster 2-6, 2 runs, 3 RBIs; Ayala 3-4, 3 runs, 2 RBIs. Kaim: Erick Shen 1-3, 2 RBIs.
Radford 2, Farrington 0
At Hans L’Orange Park
Radford (3-0) 000 110 0 — 2 5 0
Farrington (2-1) 000 000 0 — 0 0 0
Jack Dillon and Cole Courtney. Trey Kaawa and Treven Isobe. W—Dillon. L—Kaawa.
Leading hitters—Rad: Issac Grant 1-3, 2b.
Radford starter Jack Dillon tossed a no-hitter with four strikeouts and three walks. He faced 23 batters, just two above the minimum.
Kahuku 21, McKinley 7
At McKinley
Kahuku (1-2) 021 153 8 — 21 18 3
McKinley (0-3) 020 401 0 — 7 12 7
Andrew Kohlert, Max LaGrass (5) and Keola Baily, McKenna Cameron (7). Koolau Anderson and Elijah Vincent. W—LaGrass. L—Anderson.
Leading hitters—Kah: Keawe Denis 2-4, RBI, run; Moon Pilanca-Parkin 3b, 2 runs; Elvis Vakapuna 2-5, 2b, 2 runs; Hala Latu 2 runs; Kohlert 2-3, run; Baily 2-3, 2b, 4 RBIs, 2 runs; Royce Pao 2-4, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Stokes Botelho 2-4, 2b, 2 RBIs, 3 runs; Pua Falemalu 1-2, 2b, 3 RBIs, 2 runs. McK: Noah Omori 3-4, run; Vincent 2-4, 2b, RBI, run; Max Gathing 2-4, RBI, run; Keanu Bolkeim 1-3, 2 RBIs.
Waialua 13, Nanakuli 1
At Nanakuli
Waialua (1-2) 170 011 3 — 13 8 4
Nanakuli (1-2) 100 000 0 — 1 3 4
Kyven Dicion, Matthan Hatchie (7) and Zane Dobecki. Nainoa Banks, Clyde Enos (2), Banks (4), Josiah Nahinu (7), Austin Souza (7) and Jericho Waa. W—Dicion. L—Banks.
Leading hitters—Wail: Dicion 3-5, 2b, 3 RBIs; Hatchie 2-3, 2b, RBI; Richard Allen 2-3, RBI. Nan: Nahinu 2-3, 2b.
OIA EAST SOFTBALL
Moanalua 11, Kailua 5
At Moanalua
Kailua (2-1) 004 100 0 — 5 7 1
Moan (3-0-1) 434 000 X — 11 10 6
Dyani Cummings, Desiree Chang (4) and Denise Nagayama. Mari Kimoto, Jada Young (5), Shanelle Lum (7) and Raven Rosa-Lasco. W—Kimoto. L—Cummings.
Leading hitters—Kail: Chang 2 RBIs, run; Cummings 2-2, 2b, RBI, run. Moan: Summer Kamioka 2 RBIs; Rheyl Arakawa-Lee 2 runs; Rosa-Lasco 2 RBIs; Kyler Tsukada 2-3, HR, RBI, run; Kylie Kawelo GS, 4 RBIs, run; Hilari Balenti 2-3, 2b, 2 runs.
Kaiser 12, Kalaheo 6
At Kalaheo
Kaiser (2-0-1) 050 004 3 — 12 13 9
Kalaheo (1-2) 101 001 3 — 6 3 6
Primrose Aholelei and Precious Aholelei. Michelle Sasaki and Skyla Bain. W—Primrose Aholelei. L—Sasaki.
Leading hitters—Kais: Kayla Russell 3-3, 3 2bs, 2 RBIs, 3 runs; Primrose Aholelei 2b, 2 RBIs, run; Tahani Kahawai-Robertson 3-5, 3 RBIs, run; Precious Aholelei 2-5, 2b, run; Tehani Aquino 3b, 2 runs. Kalh: Bain 3 runs; Sasaki HR, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Tiffani Beach 2b, RBI, run.
Also — Farrington 7, Castle 0, forfeit
OIA WEST SOFTBALL
No. 1 Campbell 7, Waianae 4
At Waianae
Campbell (3-0) 004 020 1 — 7 7 1
Waianae (0-3) 002 200 0 — 4 5 0
Jade Behic, Daniella Cervantes (4) and Jocelyn Alo. Kayla Hensley and Tyra Pai. W—Cervantes. L—Hensley.
Leading hitters—Camp: Cieana Curran 3-3, 4 RBIs, HR. Wain: Pai 3-4, 2b, RBI.
No. 3 Pearl City 9, No. 5 Kapolei 3, 8 inn.
At Kapolei
Pearl City (3-0) 210 000 06 — 9 13 1
Kapolei (1-2) 100 001 10 — 3 9 6
Tyanna Kaaialii and Hailey-Alexis Yamaguchi. Sadie Kapaku-You, Tatum Guzman (8) and Lili Kaimi. W—Kaaialii. L—Kapaku-You.
Leading hitters—PC: Darian Obara 2-5, RBI, run; Noel Saunders 2-5, 2 RBIs; Yamaguchi 2-5, RBI; Taylor Shigeta 3-4, two 2bs, 2 runs. Kapo: Chasity McKean 2-3, RBI, run; Guzman 2-4.
OIA DIVISION II SOFTBALL
Radford 22, Waipahu 4, 5 inn.
At Radford
Waipahu (1-4) 000 31 — 4 5 0
Radford (2-0) 705 91 — 22 8 2
Sala Veu, Aysia Fujishige-Lapot (5) and Cierra Columbini. Abigail Wilson, Baileigh Susak (4) and Alden Steyeart. W—Wilson. L—Veu.
Leading hitters—Rad: Alina Nashion 2-3, 2b, HR, 2 RBIs; Susak 3-3, 6 RBIs.
Kalani 10, McKinley 0, 6 inn.
At Kalani
McKinley (0-2) 000 000 — 0 2 0
Kalani (1-0) 160 012 — 10 12 0
Pamela Espinda and Gabrielle Viramontes. Cherise Horita and Jazzlynn Furuya. W—Horita. L—Espinda.
Leading hitters—Kaln: Furuta 2-4, run; Horita 3-3, two 2bs, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Kylie Pagud 3b, 2 RBIs, run; Chelsie Nakamura 2-4, 2 RBIs.
Also — Kaimuki 10, Kahuku 6
