Chase for the Championship
Aiea scores early, holds off Kamehameha-Hawaii, 4-1


  



Fri, May 8, 2015 @ [ 1:00 pm ]


FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
KS-Hawaii 0 000100132
Aiea 3 0 0001X482

W: Dylan Madamba    L: Reese Mondina

AIEA: Jarred Uyeda 1-2 2 rbi; Dylan Madamba 7.0 IP 1 ER 5 K
KSH: Daylen Calicdan 1-3 run trp; Reese Mondina 5.0 IP 3 ER


MANOA — Aiea scored three runs in the first inning and made it hold in a 4-1 win over No. 6 Kamehameha-Hawaii in a semifinal game of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II Baseball State Championships at Les Murakami Stadium Friday afternoon.

Dylan Madamba threw a complete-game three-hitter and seven different players registered a hit for Na Alii (14-0), who will play two-time defending state champion Maryknoll in the 4 p.m. title game Saturday.

"It feels so unreal right now," said Madamba, a senior left-hander. "Our long-term goal was to make it to this point now where we're at. We worked hard this whole season, took it game by game and then hoped for the best."

Madamba struck out five and walked two and lowered his season ERA to 1.75. It was his first seven-inning outing of the season.

"Dylan was just being Dylan," Aiea coach Ryan Kato said. "If you go back and look at every outing he's had, he's just been lights out. I think he's a perfect example of what can happen when you can hit your spots with more than one pitch and that's all he did all day. He executed."

Kato said Madamba, who has 29 strikeouts against just four walks on the season, was in total control Friday.

"I was kidding with coaches because it's like playing a PlayStation, because when I call a pitch inside I know where it's going to be and that, in turn, helps us to line the defense up, so the defense is always in the right place because we know where the pitch is going to be," Kato said. "Everything we do as team on defense revolves around the pitcher being able to execute his job. Once he does that, then the rest of the team can go align themselves in the right positions and that's what happens."

Madamba got all the run support he needed in the first inning, when Na Alii sent seven batters to the plate. The first five batters in the frame all reached on singles.

"I guess it's contagious," Kato said. "Whenever they get fired up, everybody wants to outdo the other guy and that's the result. They care so much about the team that they don't want to let the team down and they're going to do whatever they can to contribute and it's like, ‘If you did one play, I'm going to do one better,' and that's what the team thrives on and that's what keeps us rolling."

Jaryn Nakamoto and Kobe Kato scored on Jarred Uyeda's bunt single and Shannon Fermahin came in on Micah Peters-Valdez's two-out single to right field.

Madamba did not allow a hit until Dallas Duarte led off the top of the fourth inning  with a single back up the middle. However, he was gunned down by catcher Makana Ah Yo trying to steal second. Ah Yo also threw out a runner at second in the first inning.

"It was marvelous defense," Madamba said. "I was confident in them because we've been working hard in practice."

Nakamoto also flashed some leather from his shortstop position. He had a team-high six putouts and made several spectacular defensive plays, including a play deep in the hole in the first inning.

"We practice that every day," said Nakamoto, a senior. "We take ground balls every practice, so we pride ourselves on our defense."

The Warriors got their only run of the game in the top of the fifth when Daylen Calicdan led off with a triple and came in to score on a Makana Aiona single to left field.

"I just think we had some tough breaks in the first inning that kind of cost us the game early," Kamehameha-Hawaii coach Andy Correa said. "It put us behind and we had some mental mistakes on the base paths and not executing some of the plays that we're supposed to be doing, so that kind of killed some rallies, but Aiea played a better game. The kid (Madamba) threw a real good game, he kept us off balance and we just couldn't mount much of anything. It's tough to win when you don't get the leadoff man on."

Aiea added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on Ah Yo's RBI single that scored Logan Ho.

"I think we pressed a bit after that first inning, but good pitching will do that to you," Correa said. "Strike one is hard to deal with. (Madamba) was commanding his fastball and he made pitches whenever he needed to and we just couldn't roll over the lineup and get the right guys in the right situations."

Freshman Reece Mondina took the loss for the Warriors (13-2). He allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings of work.

Kamehameha-Hawaii, which reached the past two D2 state title games, saw its 10-game win streak snapped and will play Kauai in the 11 a.m. third-place game at Murakami Stadium.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

Castle takes down Kaiser in four sets to keep pace in OIA East

Cody Pili-Rumusod had nine kills and a game-high 35 assists to pace the Knights, winners of four straight...

Radford wins on walk-off wild pitch to turn back Kalaheo

Mataio Tauanuu batted 4-for-4 and scored the game-winning run in back-and-forth game for the Rams.

Punahou continues unbeaten streak, hands Kamehameha second straight loss

Third-ranked Warriors suffered consecutive losses in the regular season for the first time since 2017.

No. 4 Iolani rallies to hand No. 1 Kamehameha first ILH loss

Ethan Akagi and CJ Taira scored the winning runs for the Raiders off a wild pitch to hand the top-ranked...

Punahou pulls away from PAC-5 to notch first ILH win

The Buffanblu ended a five-game skid and broke into the win column to keep the Wolfpack winless in the...

Kalani's Nishigaya headlines All-OIA East selections

Forward/midfielder Kaiulani Nishigaya helped lift Falcons to first-ever league title; Kaiser's Noelani...