HHSAA Baseball
Maryknoll blanks KS-Hawaii to win 2nd straight D2 title


  



Fri, May 16, 2014 @ [ 4:00 pm ]


FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Maryknoll 0 012001471
KS-Hawaii 0 0 00000010

W: Joshua Muneno    L: Chay Toson

KSH: Micah Carter 1-2; Jordan Hirae 3.7 IP 1 ER
MS: Michael Nishiki 2-3 2 rbi; Joshua Muneno 7.0 IP 0 ER


MANOA — There were no butterflies in Joshua Muneno's stomach Friday.

Muneno tossed a complete-game one-hitter to lead Maryknoll to a 4-0 win over Kamehameha-Hawaii in the title game of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II State Championships.

A crowd of about 1,200 at Les Murakami Stadium witnessed the Spartans finish the season by winning their final seven games to improve to 18-3. It was their second consecutive state title. They also beat the Warriors in last year's final, by a score of 14-0.

"I couldn't go to sleep last night," Muneno said, a left-handed junior. "I was just so ready for this game, I wanted to play."

Muneno was at his best Friday, retiring 20 of the 23 batters he faced. He walked two and struck out none, but pitched to contact and relied on his defense behind him. Muneno recorded 14 ground ball outs, five fly ball outs and got two inning-ending double plays.

"He had command and control," said Spartans' coach Randy Yamashiro, whose team won the Interscholastic League of Honolulu was the top overall seed in the tournament. "He could hit his spots, he could change velocity on his pitches, he could pump it up, so that was his greatest strength."

Kamehameha-Hawaii, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion and tournament No. 2 seed, entered the game having scored 40 runs in their two previous state-tournament games. The Warriors beat Nanakuli 28-5 in Wednesday's quarterfinal round and routed Waianae 12-2 in the a semifinal Thursday.

"We just said to 'hit your spots, let your defense play, but his your spots,'" Yamashiro said of his pregame instructions to Muneno. "I reminded him to make sure that you hit your balance points so you can hit your spots and if you hit your spots, strikeouts will come. If not, the defense will make plays."

Muneno, who improved his record to 9-0 this season with the win, surrendered his only hit of the game on a single to Warriors' third baseman Micah Carter to leadoff the bottom of the third inning.

"He was tough," Kamehameha-Hawaii coach Andy Correa said of Muneno. "He had command of more than one pitch. We couldn't generate anything because he kept getting ahead and we were hitting behind in the count the whole time. We got the leadoff guy on base three times, but twice he was erased."

The only Warrior to even reach third base was starting pitcher Chay Toson, who got on a leadoff walk in the fourth inning, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a pass ball. However, Muneno stranded him there by getting the final two outs on a fly ball to right fielder Brent Hironaga and a ground out to shortstop Trevor Hirano.

"All my pitches were working pretty well," Muneno said. "I just had to get it over the plate and not leave it up in the zone."

The Spartans got on the board with a run in the top of the third inning. Brent Hironaga led off with a single and eventually came home on an RBI single by Justin Ushio. However, Maryknoll left three runners on base to end the inning.

"I was really worried (because) if you give them an inch, they'll take a mile — they'll take 10,000 miles  — and you can never ever let them back in the game," Yamashiro said of the Warriors.

Maryknoll made up for it in the fourth inning when Michael Nishiki's one-out single to short right field scored Phillip Aylward and Hironaga to make the score 3-0.

"I just saw an off-speed pitch and I threw my hands out and I'm just happy I drove it to the outfield," said Nishiki, who was the only Spartan to collect two hits.

Correa said he was cautious of the prolific Spartans' offense, which had outscored its previous two state-tournament opponents by a margin of 26 to 4.

"From watching their last game yesterday, Maryknoll does not strikeout, they just cut down on their swings, they put the ball in play and we gave up a few too many walks against a team that likes to put pressure on in that way," Correa said. "They don't get themselves out and we couldn't get any momentum going — we could have been trying to do a little bit too much in the state championship — but they're just good. Hats off them. I don't think it was a case of what we didn't do — we didn't hit, obviously — but when somebody pitches good, that's usually going to be the result."

Toson was pulled after surrendering three runs on three hits and six walks in 3 1/3 innings of work. Jordan Hirae relieved him in the fourth and allowed one run on four hits over the final 3 2/3 innings pitched.

"He pitched well enough, but we couldn't afford the walks against a team that puts the ball in play with two strikes," Correa said of Toson. "He was feeling OK, but we were kind of on a short leash with him. I didn't want to use him too much, I thought that we would use Jordan at some point."

Maryknoll added a run in the top of the seventh when Jason Nakamura reached on a fielder's choice that allowed pinch runner Kyle Abe to score from third.

"This means the world to us," Nishiki said. "We were all excited for this day and we're excited that we came through. We were expecting a really good challenge from Kamehameha and that's what we got and we're excited to come through with the win."

Yamashiro, who has guided the Spartans to all three of its state championships since 2009.

"The team had a goal of playing like a champion and the boys came up with doing things together," Yamashiro said. "We played Spartan baseball and that's what we came out with. I'm just elated right now."

Kamehameha-Hawaii finished the year with a 10-2-1 mark.

DIVISION II ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Most outstanding player: Josh Muneno, Maryknoll

Pitchers
Chase Uyema, Maryknoll
Cal Koga, Kauai
 
Catcher
Makoa Rosario, KS-Hawaii
 
Infield
Justin Ushio, Maryknoll
Phillip Aylward, Maryknoll
Nohi Meyer, Molokai
Daylen Calicdan, KS-Hawaii
 
Outfield
Michael Nishiki, Maryknoll
Jedd Andrade, Maryknoll
Kanoa Iwasaki, Kauai
 
Utility
Kobi Candaroma, KS-Hawaii



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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