Kailua’s Joey Cantillo is known as one of the best pitchers in the state, so it’s natural that his bat is an afterthought.
But Surfriders coach Corey Ishigo inserts him as the third batter in the lineup for a reason. Cantillo pulled through in the clutch Saturday night at Les Murakami Stadium with a sacrifice fly to center field in the bottom of the eighth inning to score Stone Parker with the winning run for a 6-5 victory over Campbell and clinch the Oahu Interscholastic Association baseball championship.
“It was meant to be,” Kailua designated hitter Kalua Neves said about the title before turning his attention to Cantillo. “Joey’s the heart of this team. He is Kailua High School. He’s why we’re here today. He’s the man.”
Neves acted like the man Saturday, too, by hammering a three-run double to center in the first inning for an early 3-1 lead.
“It’s unexplainable, winning the championship,” Neves said. “We come together as a team all the time. We just really trust in each other. Our team has heart and we never give up. This is the most emotional game we’ve ever been through. This whole week was exciting.”
Both teams came out hitting hard. Campbell’s Shane Shimizu led off the game with a triple and scored when the next batter, Ikaika Ganancial, doubled. Ganancial, however, was cut down trying to stretch the hit into a triple and the quick start fizzled.
In the second, the Sabers’ Markus Ramos hit an RBI single, and then Campbell tied it 3-all in the fourth on Shimizu’s bases-loaded walk.
Dakota Kadooka’s immense play in the bottom of the fourth helped give the Surfriders a 5-3 lead. The center fielder singled home a run, stole second and third and came home on Matthew Kaleiohi’s sacrifice fly.
“We were expecting Dakota to come up with something big today,” Ishigo said. “He been swinging the bat better at practice and he’s super focused.”
Nick Sampson’s RBI hit and Roy Clemons’ sacrifice fly knotted it 5-5 in the fifth for the Sabers (14-1), and the tension and intensity continued until Cantillo’s winning sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth.
“Both teams left it out on the field,” Sabers coach Rory Pico said. “It was a back-and-forth battle, one team goes up, one team comes back. It was the kind of championship game you want. In the end they put up one more run on the board than us. Any loss is easy to reflect on and think of what we could do better. We left a lot of guys out there on the bases (both teams left 10 runners on) today and credit to their pitchers. They made pitches and we couldn’t cash in.”
Campbell stranded three runners in the top of the eighth without scoring, setting the stage for the Surfriders’ winning rally. Parker started it by reaching on the Sabers’ only error. Campbell reliever and losing pitcher Dylan Florentin intentionally walked Kadooka and Cody Riturban followed with a single. The Murakami Stadium crowd on the Kailua side screamed for Parker to come home, but he was held at third.
Cantillo stepped up with the bases loaded and one out and sent a high fly ball to center that was caught. Parker tagged and scored, leading to a mob of celebrating Surfriders.
Freshman pitcher Ryan Inouye, in relief of Bryson Ballesteros, pitched four innings of scoreless ball for the win.
Both teams will play in the upcoming state tournament, and Kailua (13-2) will get a first-round bye.
“There’s 12 teams,” Ishigo said. “Everybody’s got a chance. It’s going to be a tough one.”
Kailua also won OIA championships under Ishigo from 2000 to 2003 and in 2005, 2012 and 2016. Ishigo also led the Surfriders to a Division I state title in 2001.
Pico led Campbell to league titles from 2013 to 2015 and the D-I state championship in 2015.
OIA DIVISION I BASEBALL PLAYOFFS
No. 5 Kailua 6, No. 2 Campbell 5, 8 inn.
At Les Murakami Stadium
>> Campbell (14-1) 110 120 00 — 5 12 1
>> Kailua (13-2) 300 200 01 — 6 13 3
Nick Sampson, Ayzek Silva (5), Dylan Florentin (8) and TJ Takahama. Bryson Ballesteros, Ryan Inouye (5) and Jalen Ah Yat. W—Inouye. L—Florentin.
Leading hitters—Campbell: Shane Shimizu 2-3, 3B, SB, RBI; Ikaika Ganancial 3-4, 2B, RBI; Sampson 3-3, RBI, 2 runs; Roy Clemons SAC, SF; Markus Ramos RBI. Kailua: Matthew Kaleiohi SF; Cody Riturban 2-5; Joey Cantillo 3-4, SF; Jalen Ah Yat 4-4; Kalua Neves 2B, 3 RBIs; Dakota Kadooka RBI, 3 SBs.
Mililani 6, No. 8 Kalani 4
At Kalani
>> Mililani (8-7) 222 000 0 — 6 9 1
>> Kalani (9-6) 012 000 1 — 4 5 1
Dane Little, Kody Okumura (3), Seth Thomas (7) and Thomas Nakatsukasa. Micah Kawano, Devin Omura (7) and Bronson Matsumoto. W—Little. L—Kawano .
Leading hitters—Mil: Korrey Siracusa 2-3, run, 3 RBIs; Bryce Yonemori 2-4, run; Austin Dela Cruz 2-2, RBI. Kaln: Hunter Lau 2-3, run.
Kaiser 4, Kapolei 0
At Kapolei
>> Kaiser (9-6) 001 001 2 — 4 7 1
>> Kapolei (8-7) 000 000 0 — 0 2 1
Chase Asuncion and Kainoa Torres. Drayden Kawewehi, Zachary Collins (5), Bradyn Yoshida (7) and catcher not reported. W—Asuncion. L—Kawewehi.
Leading hitters—Kais: Keoni Pangan 2-4, run; Christian Reasoner 1-4, 3b, RBI; Kainoa Craig 1-4, run, RBI. Kapo: none.
