Waiakea junior David Nakamura says he’s had better command of his pitches in other games this season.
When asked to consider the situation and the stakes of Friday’s semifinal game in the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA State Baseball Championships at Les Murakami Stadium, he admitted it wasn’t quite the same.
“There’s definitely not a more important game that I’ve ever pitched in my life,” Nakamura said.
The left-hander outdueled Kamehameha ace Hunter Breault with a seven-hit shutout and got a huge assist from center fielder Gehrig Octavio in the seventh inning to send the Warriors into the state final with a 2-0 win over Kamehameha.
Nakamura walked three and struck out two in a 106-pitch effort to move Waiakea (17-2) within one win of its first state title since 2012.
“Great pitching, great defense and offensively we kept putting pressure,” Waiakea coach Rory Inouye said. “We got the lucky breaks today, but we played the way we play, and that’s great defense and good pitching.”
Nakamura tagged Breault with a two-out RBI single in the first inning to give himself the lead before stepping on the mound for the first time since a 50-pitch, five-walk performance in two innings of a win over Moanalua on Wednesday in the opening round.
He gave up a leadoff walk to Logan Salcedo to start the bottom of the first but didn’t allow the leadoff man on base the rest of the game.
“It’s a brand new mound, something that is alien to me,” Nakamura said of his first start on Wednesday. “The biggest adjustment I made was stepping and throwing and following through. If you saw me throughout the game the three (things) I said was, ‘step, throw and follow through’ because the first day I was rushing a little bit and the release was not there.”
The Big Island Warriors have won three straight after losing two in a row to Hilo in the BIIF championship series.
Kamehameha (16-7) entered the game with two wins in states following three consecutive losses to Saint Louis to let the ILH title slip away.
Breault went the distance, allowing just three hits and pounding the strike zone, needing only 72 pitches to get through seven innings.
He sat down 15 Waiakea batters in a row after Nakamura’s first-inning single and kept his team in it until the end.
“He was money tonight and that’s what I told him,” Kamehameha coach Thomas Perkins said. “I’m not disappointed at all in how we played. Breault did his job. We just couldn’t hit it where they weren’t.”
Kamehameha was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, with the only hit coming with two outs in the sixth. Hunter Fujitani beat the ball to first for an infield single, but courtesy runner Francis Gora, who was on second, rounded third and tried to score on the play and was thrown out easily.
Shortstop Kawai Takemura got on base with a one-out single in the seventh inning and Nakea Hanohano, who doubled earlier in the game, drilled a ball deep to the warning track in center.
Octavio, whose bunt single led to Waiakea’s second run in the top of the seventh, turned toward the wall on a dead sprint and made a leaping, back-handed, full-extension catch to rob Hanohano of extra bases that would have put the tying run in scoring position.
“I seen that (Hanohano) smoked that ball and I put my head down and started booking it,” Octavio said. “I leaped up, stuck my glove out, and just caught it.”
At that point, all Perkins could do was tip his cap.
“Oh well. That’s the way it goes,” Perkins said. “That’s what baseball is all about.”
HHSAA DIVISION I BASEBALL
Waiakea 2, Kamehameha 0
At Les Murakami Stadium
>> Waiakea (17-2) 100 000 1 — 2 3 1
>> KSK (16-7) 000 000 0 — 0 7 0
David Nakamura and Curren Inouye. Hunter Breault and Dylan Salcedo. W—Nakamura. L—Breault.
Leading hitters—Waik: Nakamura 1-3, RBI. KSK: Salcedo 2-2.
Maui 6, Campbell 4
At Les Murakami Stadium
>> Campbell (16-2) 200 200 0 — 4 3 1
>> Maui (13-5) 100 014 X — 6 8 1
Ayzek Silva, Darien Robinson (6) and Todd Takahama. Jarnesky Haoa, Mikito Barkman (4) and Bryant Nakagawa. W—Barkman. L—Robinson.
Leading hitters—Camp: Markus Ramos 1-3, 3b, RBI. Maui: Barkman 2-3; Waylon Golis-Bacos 1-3, 2b, RBI; Jyrah Lalim 1-2, 2b, 2 RBIs; Micah Jio 1-2, run, 2 RBIs.
5th place semifinals
>> Saint Louis 9, Hilo 2
>> Kailua 7, Baldwin 2
Consolation semifinal
>> Moanalua 7, Kalani 3
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