WAILUKU >> Even after a two-year hiatus, the neighbor islands continue to dominate state baseball.
No. 1 seed Baldwin made tonight’s final an all-neighbor-island affair, rolling Kailua 17-5 to set up a Division I championship game between titlists from the MIL and BIIF in the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA State Baseball Championships at Iron Maehara Stadium.
Wehiwa Aloy went 4-for-4 with five RBIs and Christian Dominno was 3-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and two RBIs for Baldwin (16-0), which will play Waiakea in a rematch of the 2018 state final.
Neither team has lost a game this season. Baldwin has won state titles as recently as 2016 and ’18, while Waiakea last won in 2012 but is in its third final in its past four appearances.
The neighbor islands are guaranteed a fourth state champion in the past five tournaments held.
“All these boys out here are ready for battle,” Aloy said.
The Bears lead the tournament in runs scored even with playing only twice. Baldwin scored in all seven innings against the Surfriders (11-7) and finished with 17 hits.
“Our offense really did come together,” Aloy said. “We hit when we needed to and overall it was just a good game.”
Left-hander Levi Maddela and reliever Kadon Antolin held Kailua to four hits. Antolin pitched the final five innings to earn the win.
Aloy put the Bears on the board to start with a two-out single in the first. He took second on an errant pickoff throw to first and scored from second on a wild pitch that the catcher couldn’t find.
Two batters after Makane Honokaupu walked with the bases loaded to make it 2-0 in the second inning, Aloy cleared the bases with a double to right to make it 5-0.
Dominno doubled in a run in the third inning and a throwing error allowed a second Bear to score to make it 7-0.
Baldwin helped Kailua get back in the game in the bottom of the third inning when it walked four batters, hit another and made a crucial error to allow two more runs to score to cut the lead to 7-5.
Makai Miyamoto singled home a run for the Surfriders’ only hit in the inning as Maddela was pulled after walking three batters and then hitting another to force in a run.
Baldwin kept piling on the runs, with two each over the next three innings.
Maddela doubled home a run in the fourth inning and Dominno singled in Aloy to make it 9-5.
Aloy drove in his fourth run with a single in the fifth inning and added a sacrifice fly to make it 13-5 in the sixth.
Sophomore pinch hitter Isaac Imamura added a three-run, inside-the-park homer in the top of the seventh on a ball inside the bag at third that the left fielder didn’t chase after thinking it was foul.
Baldwin had at least one run scored from all nine spots in the lineup.
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Division II semifinals
Damien 12, Kamehameha-Hawaii 2
Brandon Deth allowed two runs on six hits in six innings and the Monarchs beat the Warriors to reach the state championship at Wong Stadium in Hilo.
Damien’s offense made Kamehameha-Hawaii run through five pitchers, exploding for five runs in the fifth inning and adding seven more in the sixth to end it.
Francis O’Connor led the attack with two hits and an RBI as the Monarchs only needed six hits to score their 12 runs. Kamehameha-Hawaii committed five errors and hit five Monarchs with pitches to go with four walks.
Dacen Hisashima took the loss despite facing only one batter, being charged with a walk and a wild pitch.
Waimea 3, Nanakuli 2
Kade Erdman drove in a pair of runs with a single up the middle in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Menehunes rallied to nip the Golden Hawks.
Waimea had only three hits in the game, two in the telling inning. Robbie Correa worked the first four innings on the mound for the Menehunes, allowing two runs on seven hits. Noah Delanoza took over from there, striking out five batters in three hitless innings to earn the victory.
Keahi Ah Sui went the distance for Nanakuli, striking out four.
HHSAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Boys Division II
Semifinals
DAMIEN 12, KS-HAWAII 2
At Francis Wong Stadium
KS-Hawaii (8-1) 100 001 — 2 6 5
Damien (5-12) 000 057 — 12 6 1
Noah Palea, Dylan Hanson (5), Jonah Reich (5), Maka Carbonel-Mangus (6), Dacen Higashima (6) and Dominic Christensen. Brandon Deth and Carl Matthew Julian.
W—Deth. L–Higashima.
Leading hitters—DMS: Francis O’Conner 2-4, RBI.
WAIMEA 3, NANAKULI 2
At Francis Wong Stadium
Nanakuli (12-2) 100 100 0 — 2 7 1
Waimea (13-1) 000 000 3 — 3 3 2
Keahi Ah Sui and Damian Griffin. Robbie Correa, Noah Delanoza (5) and Kade Erdman. W–Delanoza. L—Ah Sui.
Leading hitters—Nan: Griffin 2-3, run; Micah Nihoa 2-3, run; Isaiah Enriquez 2b, RBI.
Consolation
Waianae 6, Molokai 2
Konawaena 4, Waipahu 0
