WAILUKU >> Hurley Soong is a maestro on the mound.
Facing the deepest adversity against the hometown Baldwin Bears, the Waiakea junior threw his best pitches, including in the seventh inning as the Warriors pulled out a 1-0 semifinal win on Friday night.
Fourth-seeded Waiakea (12-4-2 overall), which last won the title in 2022 under coach Chris Honda, will play Saint Louis for the crown today at 7 p.m.
“I’m very proud of them. The team is coming together at the right time. They’re really playing for each other. Our pitchers are doing well, our defense is making plays and we’re getting some timely hitting,” Honda said. “The biggest thing is these guys are all playing for each other. That’s one of our keys to success, I believe.”
Defending state co-champion Baldwin was on the verge of returning to the final. One day after ousting top-seeded Kamehameha by a 1-0 score in the quarterfinals, the roles were reversed with Waiakea. Baldwin had its chances, but stranded 10 runners.
“At the beginning, I thought this was the toughest state tournament I’ve been a part of. I need to shake the hand of the coach who wins this,” Baldwin coach Craig Okita said. “Baseball is much like life. The high of last night to the low tonight in 24 hours. It’s a life lesson.”
Baldwin sophomore Justice Wakamatsu was up to the challenge. He permitted one run on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Soong finished with a four-hitter, four K’s and four walks.
Hope was alive for Baldwin in the top of the seventh. Pinch hitter Dylan Wellerstein’s ground ball to short was muffed by the normally reliable Ivor Brooks.
“My coach always tells us to have the mindset of a goldfish. You make an error, it happens. It’s the game of baseball. You’re going to have failures. You’ve got to bounce right back,” Brooks said.
Pinch runner Devin Inokuma advanced to second base on a groundout to first by Kai Watanabe.
Soong then plunked Marley Sebastian to give the Bears the potential winning run at first base. The runners advanced on a chopper at home plate by Jevon Raboy.
After a brief conference at the mound with two runners in scoring position and two outs in the top of the seventh, Soong delivered, throwing his best sliders and fastball against Baldwin cleanup hitter Devyn Rosaga.
“I trust my defense. They did they’re job and we made it work. Coach said, ‘This is exactly where we want to be. This is the point where we win.’ I just try to hit my spots,” Soong said.
Soong threw two of his best pitches of the day to get ahead of Rosaga, 0-2. Then, he got Rosaga swinging at a breaking ball in the dirt. The catcher, Tycen Baruela, threw to first base, where Clemson Julian caught the ball and tagged the bag for the final out.
Waiakea has won six games in a row, including wins over previously unbeaten Kamehameha-Hawaii in the BIIF final, and a quarterfinal victory over Kaiser. The timing coincides with Honda’s recent retirement from the Hawaii County Fire Department.
“Gosh, what a great retirement gift,” he said.
The Warriors reached Wakamatsu for the game’s only run in the bottom of the second inning. Boston Kobayashi led off with a bad-hop infield single to first and Julian walked on a full count. After Jerrell Alston struck out swinging on a full count breaking ball, Baruela lined a single to center.
Brooks was instrumental defensively with spectacular range and throws for a second day in a row.
“Amazing. That’s just normal Hurley, coming in clutch. He’s going to pound zone and trust his defense. We made plays and he had K’s,” Brooks said. “He’s always composed. He’s a small guy, but he has grit, too.”
Waiakea held up Kobayashi at third base, but the ball was muffed by center fielder Kika-John Kuailani, allowing Kobayashi to score easily for a 1-0 Waiakea lead.
“All love to Baldwin. They let us use their facility to warm up and they always treat us to eat,” Brooks said. “They’ve got some real good talent on that team coming up next year.”
In 2024, Waiakea edged ‘Iolani, 1-0, in the opening round, then lost to eventual co-champion Maui, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.
In ’23, BIIF champion Waiakea lost to Mililani, 2-1, in the quarterfinal round.
In ’22, BIIF champion Waiakea beat Kalani, 6-3, in the quarterfinals, then eked out a 5-4 semifinal win over Saint Louis. That set up a Baldwin-Waiakea final at Iron Maehara Stadium, which the Warriors won, 3-2.
Prior to the pandemic, Waiakea reached the state tourney in ’19 and knocked out Saint Louis in the first round before losing to top-seeded Baldwin, 8-5, in the quarterfinals.
In the ’18 season, BIIF champion Waiakea was seeded third. The Warriors beat Campbell, 6-2, and Kailua, 5-0, to reach the final. Waiakea lost to top-seeded Baldwin, 14-4, at Les Murakami Stadium.
In ’17, Waiakea was unseeded and beat Moanalua, 4-3, Kailua, 3-1, and Kamehameha, 2-0 to reach the title game. Maui beat Waiakea, 6-1, for the title.
Waiakea’s first baseball state title was in ’12 under then-coach Kevin Yee. The Warriors beat Baldwin, 5-2, in the final.
—
Friday
Consolation Semifinals
G10: Kailua 5, Roosevelt 0
Fifth-Place Semifinals
G11: Kamehameha 10, Kaiser 0, 5 inn.
G12: Mililani 2, Leilehua 0
Semifinals
G13: Waiakea 1, Baldwin 0
G14: Saint Louis 6, Kamehameha-Maui 1
Today
Consolation
G15: Kamehameha-Hawaii vs. Kailua, 11
a.m.
Fifth Place
G16: Mililani vs. Kamehameha, 1:30 p.m.
Third Place
G17: Kamehameha-Maui vs. Baldwin, 4 p.m.
Final
G18: Saint Louis vs. Waiakea, 7 p.m
