For Keenan Lum, the ecstasy of a clutch performance was almost too exhilarating for a sophomore.
For Travis Garcia-Perreira, another blown lead thanks to an untimely infield error was excruciating.
With a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over No. 1 Mid-Pacific on Saturday night at Ala Wai Community Park, Kamehameha vaulted directly into the Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball title chase. The fifth-ranked Warriors, who scored all four of their runs in the top of the seventh, are 11-2 with three regular-season games remaining. Kamehameha is tied for the league lead with Punahou.
Mid-Pacific, which led the league for much of the season, dropped to 10-2. All three contenders are on the verge of clinching the three state-tournament berths allotted to the ILH, but the possibility of a three-way tie at season’s close would mean a three-team playoff could be in play.
For now, Lum was all smiles after improving to
4-1. The 6-foot-2 lefty had command of his fastball and curveball, allowing one earned run on seven hits. He struck out three and walked none.
"We’re going to keep fighting and keep playing Kamehameha baseball," said Lum, insisting that the Warriors would not lose their edge.
It was his ability to paint the outside corner and come back with that hard fastball inside that mesmerized batters.
"My fastball was getting over easy and the curve, I could throw it any time. They pitch count me, but I told (pitching coach Scott Paiva) this was my game."
Down 1-0 through five frames, the Warriors sent nine batters to the plate in the sixth. Po’okela Benanua led off with a double and scored on Hoku Botelho’s opposite-field single to tie the game.
The Warriors had the bases loaded with two outs when Will Young got jammed and lifted a low pop-up to the right side of the infield. First baseman Daniel Fentriss stepped in front of second baseman Brent Sakurai and muffed the baseball, allowing Botelho and Alika McGuire to score.
With Sheldon Kohatsu at bat, Garcia-Perreira’s wild pitch permitted pinch runner Joseph Yokoi to score, and the Warriors had a 4-1 lead.
MPI battled back in the bottom of the seventh. Pinch hitter Joshua Donovan struck out, but reached base on a passed ball. After Skyler Tengan and Sakurai singled to load the bases, Lum got Nikolas Alarcio — who was 3-for-3 at the time — to line out.
But with two outs, Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s grounder to third turned into a throwing error by Tyler Meditz, allowing pinch runner Cal Muramaru to score.
After McGuire, the shortstop, booted a slow grounder by Marcus Doi, Tengan raced home to cut the lead to one run.
Lum then got Garcia-Perreira to ground out to first and end the game.
It was a frustrating night for Garcia-Perreira, who saw a lead against Punahou disintegrate in similar fashion nearly two weeks ago. The right-hander allowed just one earned run on five hits. He struck out four and walked three, sitting alone in a dark dugout after the game.
"The bus ride back, we’ll be talkative. On Sunday, we’ll show up and work on it," said Garcia-Perreira, who dropped to 2-3 despite a 2.08 ERA. "We like these pressure situations. Can’t dwell on the mistakes. There’s nothing we can do about it now."
Kamehameha coach Vern Ramie, serving a one-game suspension, watched from the bleachers.
"Keenan and Travis competed great. We got lucky. We got that break and took advantage of it," he said. "We’ve all got a lot of tough games left. Everybody’s got a shot."
Lum could feel Garcia-Perreira’s pain. Just a bit.
"He kept us off balance and played tough. Just that one inning got to him," Lum said.
At Ala Wai Community Park
| MID-PACIFIC (10-2) |
001 |
000 |
2 |
— |
3 |
7 |
1 |
| KAMEHAM. (11-2) |
000 |
004 |
x |
— |
4 |
5 |
2 |
Travis Garcia-Perreira, Deric Valoroso and Marcus Doi. Keenan Lum and Moku Kukonu. W–Lum. L–Garcia-Perreira.
Leading hitters–Mid-Pacific: Nikolas Alarcio 3-4; Skyler Tengan 3-3. Kamehameha: Po’okela Benanua 2-2.
‘Iolani 13, St. Francis 3
Troy Esaki stroked a three-run triple to highlight a six-run, sixth-inning rally as the Raiders routed the Saints.
At Central Oahu Regional Park
| ST. FRANCIS (0-12) |
|
000 |
030 |
— |
3 |
5 |
2 |
| ‘IOLANI (4-8) |
|
113 |
206 |
— |
13 |
13 |
2 |
Kreighton Tsuruda, Laakea Moniz (5) and Bryson Davis. Troy Odo, Bryce Nakamura (5), Kelle Miyama (5) and John Tanaka. W–Odo. L–Tsuruda.
Leading hitters–‘Iolani: Austin Darmawan 2-3, 2 runs; Christian Donahue 2-3, 3b, 2 runs; Jonathan Ide 2-4, 2 runs; Joshua Inouye 2-3, 2b, 3 RBIs, 2 runs; Troy Esaki 2-3, 3b, 3 RBIs; John Tanaka 2 RBIs.
Saint Louis 5, Pac-Five 3
Rico Garcia hurled four innings of shutout relief and Rayson Romero had two RBIs as the Crusaders beat the Wolfpack.
At Central Oahu Regional Park
| PAC-FIVE (3-9) |
003 |
000 |
0 |
— |
3 |
8 |
3 |
| SAINT LOUIS (8-5) |
001 |
040 |
x |
— |
5 |
4 |
0 |
Micah Witty Oakland and Joseph Choy. Jordan Mopas, Rico Garcia (4) and Niklas Ajifu. W–Garcia. L–Witty Oakland.
Leading hitters–Pac-Five: Brayden Yabuki 2-3; Frank Perkins 2-3. Saint Louis: Rayson Romero 2 RBIs.
OIA RED WEST BASEBALL
Kapolei 1, Pearl City 0
Trey Kamachi-Allen won a pitchers duel, striking out 10 Chargers and allowing only two hits.
Pearl City pitcher Sumi Pruett struck out seven and gave up three hits.
Kapolei scored the game’s only run in the second inning when William Leskovic drove in Robbie Depp on a sacrifice fly.
Pearl City, Campbell and Waianae are tied atop the league standings at 7-5.
At Central Oahu Regional Park
| KAPOLEI (4-8) |
010 |
000 |
0 |
— |
1 |
3 |
1 |
| PEARL CITY (7-5) |
000 |
000 |
0 |
— |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Trey Kamachi-Allen and William Leskovec. Sumi Pruett and Kamalu Neal. W–Kamachi-Allen. L–Pruett.
Leading hitter–Kapolei: Robbie Depp 2b.
Leilehua 2, Campbell 0
Lawrence Paas tossed a no-hitter with four strikeouts and three walks to lead the Mules over the Sabers.
Campbell’s Paul Arakaki allowed two hits, an RBI single by Joshua Lorenzo and an RBI double by Kenan Sadanaga.
At Fred Wright Park
| CAMPBELL (7-5) |
000 |
000 |
0 |
— |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| LEILEHUA (5-7) |
010 |
001 |
X |
— |
2 |
2 |
0 |
Paul Arakaki and Kaeo Kapana. Lawrence Paas and Ian Kaopua. W–Paas. L–Arakaki.
Leading hitter–Leilehua: Kenan Sadanaga 2b.
Mililani 7, Aiea 4
Chad Uyehara went
3-for-3 with a double, triple and three runs scored to lead the Trojans over Na Alii.
Mililani’s Jamesson Madrid and Shanztyn Agbayani-Shibao each drove in two runs.
At Mililani
| AIEA (6-6) |
102 |
100 |
0 |
— |
4 |
9 |
2 |
| MILILANI (6-6) |
320 |
200 |
x |
— |
7 |
10 |
4 |
John Woodin, Jaycob Alcantra (2) and Brett Tanonaka. Javen Sakauye, Jamesson Madrid (7) and Madrid, Dallas Chung (7). W–Sakauye. L–Woodin.
Leading hitters–Aiea: Trevor Ling 2-2, 2 runs; Patrick Villanueva 2-3; Lewai Manoa 2-3, 2b. Mililani: Chad Uyehara 3-3, 2b, 3b, 3 runs; Travis Maekawa 2-4; Madrid 2-2, 2b, 2 RBIs; Shanztyn Agbayani-Shibao 2 RBIs.
OIA WHITE BAEBALL
Kalaheo 12, McKinley 0
Christian Palmer pitched a five-inning shutout with nine strikeouts and went
2-for-3 with two doubles and five RBIs as the Mustangs beat the Tigers.
At Kalaheo
| MCKINLEY (4-6) |
000 |
00 |
— |
0 |
2 |
3 |
| KALAHEO (8-2) |
105 |
06 |
— |
12 |
13 |
1 |
Vincent Hong and Joshua Pearson-Santos. Christian Palmer and Geoffrey Craighead. W–Palmer. L–Hong.
Leading hitters–Kalaheo: Alika Andres 4-4, 2b, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Palmer 2-3, 2 2bs, 2 runs, 5 RBIs; Matt Anderson-Lee 2 runs; Luke Pauli 2 runs.
Waipahu 10, Radford 6
Micah Luke went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and the Marauders beat the Rams to complete an undefeated regular season.
Waipahu tallied five runs in the fifth inning to take a 9-6 lead.
At Radford
| WAIPAHU (10-0) |
010 |
350 |
1 |
— |
10 |
9 |
2 |
| RADFORD (8-2) |
103 |
200 |
0 |
— |
6 |
10 |
4 |
Drake Yoshioka and Tyler Enos. Paul Cavallaro, Kevin-Tyler Owens (5), Kevin Klein (5), Landyn Bartness (7) and Michael Vito. W–Yoshioka. L–Cavallaro.
Leading hitters–Waipahu: Dylan Sugimoto 2-3; Micah Luke 2-5, 2 RBIs; Matapua Tulafale 2b; Joshua Maglangit 2-2. Radford: Jesus Tenorio 2-4, 2b; Owens 3-4, 2 RBIs; Harley Thompson 2b; Derek Rodrigues 2-4.
Kaimuki 8, Nanakuli 5
The Bulldogs scored five in the first inning with the help of six errors and added three runs in the second in a victory over the Golden Hawks.
At Nanakuli
| KAIMUKI (4-6) |
530 |
000 |
0 |
— |
8 |
5 |
3 |
| NANAKULI (1-9) |
000 |
221 |
0 |
— |
5 |
7 |
8 |
Joey Tamayose and Keoki Kaiahua. Nathan Kipi, Brayden Ramaila (4) and Trae Hansen. W–Tamayose. L–Kipi.
Leading hitters–Kaimuki: Kohei Inayoshi 2-3. Nanakuli: Hansen 2-3, 3b; Raymond Pae 2-4, 2b.
Waialua 8, Farrington 6
Shannon Fisher-Larue drove in two runs as the Bulldogs beat the Governors.
Farrington scored five in the fifth inning to get within 7-6 and Waialua added one in the top of the sixth.
At Lanakila Park
| WAIALUA (5-5) |
011 |
321 |
— |
8 |
6 |
8 |
| FARRINGTON (0-10) |
010 |
050 |
— |
6 |
4 |
8 |
Justin Tantog, Robert Ladia (5) and Ladia, Gage Baptista (5). Shane Cabato-Machado, Jacob Baguio (5) and Dan Corrales. W–Tantog. L–Cabato-Machado.
Leading hitters–Waialua: Shannon Fisher-Larue 2b, 2 RBIs. Farrington: Baguio 2-3, 2b.
ILH SOFTBALL
Maryknoll 10, Pac-Five 0
Freshman Shearyna Labasan tossed a five-inning no-hitter, striking out seven, and contributed a pair of RBI singles to lead the Spartans over the Wolfpack.
At Ala Wai Community Park
| MARYKNOLL (7-8) |
105 |
40 |
— |
10 |
7 |
2 |
| PAC-FIVE (5-11) |
000 |
00 |
— |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Shearyna Labasan and Carolann Toyama. Kaleihiwa Ah New and Courtney Kipi. W–Labason. L–Ah New
Leading hitters–Maryknoll: Labasan 3-4, 2 RBIs,; Brianna Guro 2-4; Mieko Okimura 2b, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Heather Kurzenski 2b, 2 runs.
Saint Francis 13, West Pac 3
Rasela Vili pitched a two-hitter and drove in two runs as the Saints beat the Wolverines in five innings.
Kaitlin Santos also had two RBIs for St. Francis, which scored nine runs in the third inning.
At Kamamalu Field
| WEST PAC (0-15) |
200 |
01 |
— |
3 |
2 |
3 |
| ST. FRANCIS (7-8) |
109 |
03 |
— |
13 |
10 |
0 |
Chloe Lontayao and Brandi Okimoto. Rasela Vili and Kelsie Hee. W–Vili. L–Lontayao.
Leading hitters–Saint Francis: Kenedee Passos 2-2, 2b; Vili 2 RBIs; Kaitlin Santos 2 RBIs.
‘Iolani 7, Sacred Hearts 1
Nalani Taniguchi tossed a five-hitter, and Alyssa Espiritu, Kirstyn Namba and Amanda McCaskill knocked in two runs each to power the Raiders over the Lancers.
At Crane Park
| ‘IOLANI (6-9) |
050 |
000 |
2 |
— |
7 |
9 |
2 |
| SAC. HEARTS (6-9) |
001 |
000 |
0 |
— |
1 |
5 |
0 |
Nalani Taniguchi and Kirstyn Namba. Jordan Waracka and Jamie Toler. W–Taniguchi. L–Waracka.
Leading hitters–‘Iolani: Taniguchi 2-3; Alyssa Espiritu 2-3, 2 RBIs; Ula Reis-Moniz 2 runs; Namba 2 RBIs; Amanda McCaskill 2 RBIs.
