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LIHUE >> Levi Snowden put the second-seeded KIF champion Waimea Menehunes up for good with a fourth-inning, inside-the-park home run to center field in a 4-1 victory over the previously undefeated and top-seeded Kamehameha-Hawaii Warriors in a Division II semifinal.
Now, Waimea (9-4-1) can attain its second Division II state championship if it can get past St. Francis tonight at 7. The Menehunes also won it all in 2010.
Snowden’s smash that went over the head of Kamehameha-Hawaii center fielder Tai Adkins broke a 1-all tie. Waimea cashed in with two more runs in the sixth, thanks to two Warriors errors after Kanaan Ephan started the rally with a single to left.
Tysson Unciano went the distance on the hill for the Menehunes, scattering seven hits.
“We played great defense and Tyson pitched a great game,” Snowden said. “We got the pitches we wanted and came up clutch.”
Kamehameha-Hawaii hurler Zakaia Michaels was the tough-luck losing pitcher, firing a complete-game three-hitter. Only two of the four runs against him were earned and he struck out seven with only one walk.
Snowden had two of Waimea’s three hits.
“It’s a big win for our program,” Menehunes coach Chad Delanoza said. “Just getting here tonight was big. They put in the work day in and day out. Tyson did his job and everybody else did theirs. I’m proud of what they did.”
For the Warriors at the plate, Braaden Coloma finished 2-for-3 with a triple and a double and he scored his team’s only run on Hanalei Warren’s fourth-inning sacrifice fly.
Kamehameha-Hawaii (19-1) was trying to add another D-II state title to go along with the one it won three years ago.
“We played one good team tonight,” Warriors coach Andy Correa said. “They played a little better than us. We had some unfortunate things (error) happen in the last inning and we didn’t cash in on our opportunities.”
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