Aidan Yoshida scattered five hits, struck out four and walked just one as No. 8-ranked Aiea stifled Leilehua, 7-1, on an overcast afternoon at Aiea District Park field.
Aiea improved to 10-2, sealing the top seed in the OIA West. The Mules were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position against Yoshida, a senior right-hander.
“My job was to go in and throw some strikes, let my defense work. I trust them,” Yoshida said. “We went into this game knowing if we won this game, we would have a banner, so that’s nice. We play with high pressure. Pressure makes diamonds, as we say. We embrace everything, every moment this season.”
An Aiea loss would have opened the door for second-place Mililani, but the Trojans fell to Nanakuli, 6-5, and dropped to 7-4.
Leilehua slipped to 3-8 with one game remaining in the regular season.
The Mules are in sixth place and can seal the final playoff berth in the West with a win over Campbell on Saturday at Patsy Mink Central Oahu Regional Park. Waipahu (2-9) needs to beat Mililani on Saturday and hope for a Leilehua loss. Leilehua and Waipahu split their matchups in regular-season play. The next tiebreaker is total wins of the teams each squad defeated.
Yoshida’s command of the strike zone was efficient against Leilehua’s launch-angle style hitters. He is now 5-0 with a 1.63 ERA in OIA play.
“We’ve seen him for a few years. Yoshida is tough. He mixes it up well,” Leilehua coach Brandon Kon said. “He’s throwing a little harder now.”
Getting a first-round bye is invaluable for Aiea, which has elite pitchers in Yoshida and Brennen Panis (5-0, 0.42 ERA).
“Luckily, we have 1-A and 1-B aces on the mound. Aidan’s had a hell of a year,” Na Alii coach Brennan Alejo said. “Ever since he was a freshman, he just has that moxie. He throws strikes. He believes that he’s the man out there. He trusts his defense as much as Panis does. Keep that pitch count down.”
Aiea’s penchant for consistent contact hitting through the lineup worked well again.
“The biggest thing is our guys are being selfless hitters. They’re not being selfish with the bat, wanting to hit home runs,” Alejo said. “Yeah, they’re trying find the gap, but when there’s two strikes, they’re cutting it the other way. That get the next man up mentality has been serving us pretty well.”
The tradition of Aiea baseball has been alive through the decades. Winning the tough West division is a rarity, but efficient pitching, selfless at-bats and error-free defense are a winning recipe.
“Aiea’s standard leaks into the community. It’s not really the high school. It’s from when you’re a school kid time,” said Alejo, a 2009 Aiea graduate. “I was lucky enough to be on the small (Little League) field and there’s a lot of winning going on here. When you’re coming up, you know what the standard is. It’s a winning mentality. I wouldn’t say it’s fully back or we’re trying to stress that, but the standard is definitely raising right now. I think these guys understand that and the younger guys are starting to feed off it.”
In the top of the first inning, the visitors got a one-out single from Bryce Anzai, who advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Yoshida retired Hurley Awana on a pop fly and Kai Freitas on a fly ball to end the threat.
Leilehua starting pitcher Zayden Winter, a right-handed sophomore, struck out two batters in the bottom of the first inning. He walked Ryen Abe, who was thrown out at second base on a steal attempt by the Mules’ catcher, Freitas.
Aiea took advantage of Leilehua’s generosity in the bottom of the second. Bostan Ujimori walked with one out, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and Dennison Zakahi singled. Dylan Dumas’ ground ball dipped under the glove of Leilehua shortstop Jacob Sablan, allowing Ujimori to score the game’s first run.
In the bottom of the third frame, Kylan Kono led off with a walk, raced to second base on a wild pitch, then stole third. Ryen Abe’s single to left brought Kono home. Brennen Panis then smoked a ground-rule double to deep center. After Ujimori was intentionally walked, Zakahi’s sacrifice fly scored Abe for a 3-0 Na Alii lead.
The Mules scored their run in the top of the fourth. Kai Freitas doubled down the left-field line with one out. With two outs, Freitas scored on a double to left by Adrian Dykes, who finished the game 3-for-3.
Na Alii scored four times in the bottom of the fourth, capped by Zakahi’s two-run single.
Caden Schaefer singled with one out and Kono was hit by a pitch from Leilehua’s second pitcher, Pono Tabangcura. Abe reached base on a fielding error by the Mules third baseman, Awana, to load the sacks.
Panis followed with an opposite-field single to right, scoring Schaefer and Kono.
Shayden Muraoka singled to load the bases. Tabangcura whiffed Ujimori, but Zakahi clutched up with a single to left, scoring Abe and Panis for a 7-1 Aiea lead.
Leilehua didn’t get another runner in scoring position until the top of the seventh when Titan Pasco led off with a walk and Dykes singled. Yoshida retired pinch hitter Kysen Kobashigawa, Jordan Orillo and Koen Barton to end the contest.
The young Mules have a believer in Kon. Their pitchers on Tuesday were two sophomores, Winter and Tabangcura, and freshman Jordan Orillo.
“I like that we compete and battle. When we’re at our best, we can compete with anyone in the league,” Kon said. “We’ve had some tough luck so far, but I am optimistic.”
At Aiea
Leilehua (3-8) 000 100 0 — 1 4 2
Aiea (10-2) 012 240 x — 7 9 0
Zayden Winter, Pono Tabangcura (4), Jordan Orillo (6) and Kai Freitas. Aidan Yoshida and Cody Kamihara. W—Yoshida. L—Winter.
Leading hitters—Lei: Adrian Dykes 3-3, double, RBI. Aiea: Ryen Abe 2-4, double, RBI, 2 runs; Shayden Muraoka 2-3, double, RBI, run, walk; Dennison Zakahi 2-3, 2 RBIs.
