St. Francis’ quest for the school’s athletic program to end with a Division II state baseball title is still intact.
The third-seeded Saints punched out 11 hits en route to an 11-5 victory over Konawaena on Thursday in the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Baseball Championships at Vidinha Stadium in Lihue.
Three St. Francis batters had three RBIs each — JP Tilley, Reece Kadota and Max Stineman — to lead the way. James Yamasaki and Tanner Sera each contributed two RBIs and two runs scored.
Stephen Kiyo Perry went 41⁄3 innings on the mound for the victory, and he got relief help from Brayden Nomura and Stineman.
The Saints (14-3) led 5-4 until erupting for five runs in the bottom of the fifth. They’ll play Radford in the semifinals today at Vidinha Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
Bronson Rivera led the Wildcats’ attack with two runs and two hits. Tevin Canda and Kanaiaupuni Rivera had two hits apiece for Konawaena (11-9).
St. Francis School is closing its doors after this school year.
Radford 11, Seabury Hall 1, 5 inn.
Jerod Cyrus and Jacob Tyler Williams drove in two runs apiece for the OIA D-II champion Rams to back complete-game winning pitcher Richard Akana III, who allowed just four hits.
Matthew Lukins also helped the Radford offense with three hits.
Quintin Tanaka and Jacob Luther had two hits each for the Spartans (8-4).
The Rams (11-2) are trying to get to the title game for the second year in a row. They lost to Damien 12-0 in the D-II final a year ago.
Kamehameha-Hawaii 12, Waipahu 2, 5 inn.
Tai Atkins struck out 14 batters and scattered three hits in the Warriors’ rout of the Marauders.
At the plate, Braeden Coloma (home run, three RBIs), Dustin Asuncion (three hits, two RBIs) and Bryce Furuli (two hits, three RBIs) powered Kamehameha-Hawaii’s 13-hit attack.
The Warriors remained undefeated at 19-0. They take on fourth-seeded Waimea tonight at 7:30 at Vidinha Stadium.
The loss was only the second of the year for Waipahu (11-2).
Waimea 12, Molokai 5, 5 inn.
The fourth-seeded Menehunes erupted for 17 hits in the victory over the Farmers, and they also came through with a 13-run fourth inning.
Kristian Cardejon went 4-for-4, and Levi Snowden hammered away for a two-hit, three-RBI night for Waimea (8-4-1).
Tysson Unciano, Kaikoa Alquiza, Noa Aquino and Deiton Otoman all had two hits each for the Menehunes.
Alquiza also had two stolen bases and scored four runs.
Winning pitcher Max Ham and Cardejon combined for six strikeouts and a three-hitter.
Saven Kaahanui and Laysen Bush drove in a run apiece for Molokai (9-3). Bush was one of five pitchers in the game for the Farmers.
