No-hitters highlight Na Opio tournament opener


King Kekaulike's Ryley Widell struck out 18 and walked two in a complete game win over Castle. Stacy Kaneshiro | SL

WAHIAWA - Two no-hitters highlighted the opening day of Leilehua's Na Opio Goodwill preseason baseball tournament on Saturday.

Left-hander Ryley Widell fired a surprising complete-game no-hitter and King Kekaulike beat Castle, 7-0, at Howard K. Oda Baseball Field in Wahiawa.

In Ewa Beach, highly-touted right-hander Ian Kahaloa and two relievers combined on a no-hitter in Campbell's 4-0 win against Division II state champion Maryknoll.

Widell, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound senior, struck out 18 and walked two. He walked the first batter of the game and the next batter bunted the runner over. He then retired the next 13 in a row, striking out 11. He allowed a two-out walk in the fifth, but stranded the runner. He used 97 pitches on the first day high school teams could play games.

One scout had Widell's fastball in the 83-86 mph range.

Na Alii coach Mark Makimoto originally had a limited pitch count for Widell, who has signed with Washington State. But with the no-hitter on the line, the pitcher convinced his coach to finish.

"I honestly didn't know about the no-hitter until the sixth inning," Widell said. "One of my teammates brought it up in the dugout and some of the other players got mad at him; I didn't even know. Luckily, I pulled through. I wanted to finish it up."

Widell said he conditioned himself well in the offseason, so going the distance was not an issue. He threw about 85 percent fastballs.

Kahaloa pitched the first four innings, striking out nine. He threw 51 pitches. Chad Samante followed with two hitless innings, striking out three and walking one. Dorrien Villanueva-Hermosura pitched the final inning, striking out the side and walking one.

Kahaloa, who has signed with Hawaii, touched 94 mph, Sabers' coach Rory Pico said he told by an Arizona Diamondbacks scout.

Widell also considered offers from Cal State-Fullerton and San Francisco.

"I started getting emails my sophomore year," Widell said his college recruitment. "I went to the Arizona Fall Classic my junior year and that's when big schools were contacting me."

Pro scouts were on hand to watch Widell in Wahiawa.

"It's a good feeling," he said of being noticed. "It shows that my hard work paid off."

Widell said he needs to improve on his consistency. "Sometimes, I get a little wild," he said.

The no-hitter was a good morale booster for Na Alii. Earlier in the day, they lost at Waipahu, 17-3, in a game called after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

In other Saturday games:

Leilehua 4, Kamehameha 3
Kamehameha 3, Castle 3
Radford 8, Kaiser 5



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].