No. 1 seeds Aiea, Kailua to face off for OIA Division I baseball crown

Greg Yamamoto | SL

The top seeds from the Eastern and Western Divisions will face off for the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I baseball crown Friday night.

The title game of the OIA tournament will feature No. 8 Aiea (12-2) taking on No. 9 Kailua (12-2) at Les Murakami Stadium on the campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. First pitch between Na Alii and the Surfriders is scheduled for approximately 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Both teams punched their ticket to the championship game with semifinals wins Thursday. Aiea, the top seed out of the West, defeated East No. 2 seed Roosevelt by a score of 3-1, while East No. 1 seed Kailua topped Moanalua, the third seed from the East, by the same score.

Aiea got a complete-game pitching effort from Aidan Yoshida, who scattered seven hits and did not walk a batter. He struck out two Rough Riders to out-duel Roosevelt starter Nathaniel Kurano, who struck out five, walked one and allowed two earned runs on five hits in six innings of work.

Shayden Muraoka tripled, drove in two runs and scored another run to lead Aiea offensively.

Dominic Teixeira batted 2 for 3 with a run scored for Roosevelt (10-4).

Kailua used two pitchers in the nightcap to get past Moanalua (9-6). Zayne Hookala went four innings and allowed one hit and a walk with four strikeouts before Kaimana Burgo gave up one run on three hits in a three-inning save. He struck out two batters and walked none.

Hookala, Kalama Carreira and Ryce Aoki each recorded an RBI in the win, while Brayden Kaya accounted for the lone run batted in for Na Menehune.

John Ganske was charged with the loss after he gave up three runs on three hits in three innings of work. He walked four and struck out one before Dakota Pagente threw the final three innings for Moanalua.

Kailua will try for its 15th OIA title and first since 2017, while Aiea is seeking its first league crown since 2015 (D2) and 11th overall.

Roosevelt will host Moanalua Saturday at Stevenson Middle School in the third-place game. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.

Aiea and Kailua will meet in the nightcap of Friday's championship doubleheader at Murakami Stadium. Radford (6-6) will take on Waianae (10-2) in the Division II title game at 4 p.m.