Hospitality went one step too far for the Kapolei Hurricanes, who committed two costly errors in the seventh inning as Pearl City rallied for a 4-3 win on Friday afternoon.
Pearl City improved to 2-0, while Kapolei dropped to 0-3-1.
Senior Jo-Zayah Iriarte pitched 5 1/3 innings in separate stints at the beginning and end. She allowed one run on four hits with one strikeout, four walks and two hit batters in a test of perseverance.
“The second time, I was more on it and confident in my pitches, my fastball and my changeup,” Iriarte said. “We were all confident about our hitting and fielding. This game was more heartfelt against Kapolei.”
Trailing 3-2 entering the top of the seventh, the Chargers made the most of a difficult challenge. Facing a stiff wind blowing in from the outfield, the visitors kept the ball on the ground.
Chargers coach Chad Obara was excited about his team’s grit and composure.
“We have six seniors, and tight ballgames, the honest truth, we’ve been talking about it the past couple of weeks. People stepping up. The willingness to go out there and take over a game and be the one that people count on, that had been lacking from this team. Today, we saw Zayah step back into the circle and handle things,” he said.
Obara also praised left fielder Drew Hashimoto, who had a couple of key hustle plays to rob Kapolei of hits, including a running catch on a long fly ball that could have left the park. “She’s been stepping up her game the past week or so, so it’s really nice to see and I’m happy for her.”
“She made some plays out there today. She caught some balls that should’ve been extra bases,” Obara said.
Kapolei coach Keoke Behic is hoping to see his team finish with a stronger defensive performance.
“It’s the story of our season. We hit the ball well, but we don’t take care of the ball. We’ve hit the ball hard, but it’s right at the third baseman or center fielder,” he said.
Taryn Fujioka led off the seventh with a single to right field and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Hashimoto. Tiari Hernandez sent a ground ball to second baseman Karley Gabaylo, who was unable to scoop the ball up cleanly.
With one out and runners at the corners, cleanup hitter Jewel Larson grounded out to third. Lainey Honma then beat out a ground ball to short, scoring Fujioka from third base to tie the game at 3.
With Hernandez at third base, Iriarte hit a grounder to short, where a second error permitted Hernandez to score for a 4-3 Pearl City lead.
Kapolei had the potential tying and winning runs in position in the bottom of the seventh, but came up empty. With one out, Namahea Chun was hit by a pitch and Alexis Ramelb reached base on an infield single.
Iriarte got Gabaylo to fly out to center, and Liana flied out to left, ending the game.
In a shortened season of just seven games, Behic has approached it differently.
“Developmentally, the reality (is there) are a lot of kids out there who normally wouldn’t be out there. They’re seniors and it’s their last year,” he said.
At Kapolei
Pearl City 200 000 2 — 4 7 1
Kapolei 001 020 0 — 3 3 3
Jo-Zayah Iriarte, Grace Kikuchi (3), Iriarte (5) and Jewel Larson. Majesty Moisa, Jerzie Liana (4) and Larchelle Tuifao. W—Iriarte. L—Liana.
Leading hitters—PC: Drew Hashimoto 2-3, run, 2 SB; Tiari Hernandez 1-4, RBI, run, double, Lainey Honma 1-3, RBI. Kapolei: Alewa Ena 1-3, RBI, HBP; Alexis Ramelb 2-3, double, walk.
