Tristen Manoha-Diaz and first-place Kapolei will host Quintin Iriarte and second-place Radford in a key OIA Division II game. ScoringLive photo illustration

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Two of the top ball clubs in the Division II ranks of the Oahu Interscholastic Association will face off on the diamond Saturday morning on the West side.

Undefeated Kapolei will play host to one-loss Radford in a key regular-season game and a potential preview of next month's league championship.

The Hurricanes (4-0) enter the weekend in sole possession of first place in the eight-team division. It's a spot that longtime coach Tom Ebanez thought his team would be capable of being in.

"As a coaching staff we kind of anticipated coming into the season the kind of start we've had with the boys we have, so we try to make practice as competitive as possible," Ebanez said. "We have a model that we call ‘next man up,' so if someone doesn't do well performance-wise or in school or at home, we have more than nine guys that can play and take someone else's position and perform just as well so we've been blessed."

Ebanez has been particularly pleased with the play of junior second baseman Cobey Fujii and sophomore utility Andrei Stoyanow.

Fujii is batting .538 (7 of 13) with six RBI and eight runs scored — which leads the league — while Stoyanow, a first-year varsity player, has hit in every game thus far.

"These kids just come up and play baseball," Ebanez said. "They're been playing great the past couple of games. The good thing is this team, the kids have pretty good heads on their shoulders so that makes coaching a lot easier for myself and the coaches."

Ebanez estimates that about 12 of his 20 players on the roster have a grade point average of at least 3.8.

"Most importantly for us has been the bond that has been going on and with the success our kids have grown a lot tighter," Ebanez said. "It's somewhat surprising because when there's competition sometimes there's a lot more animosity or jealousy but that's not happening. The guys have been cheering on each other and backing up each other and that's been nice to see. Everyone kind of knows their role and everyone is behind each other."

The Hurricanes have been both prolific on offense — averaging more than 11 runs per game — and stingy on defense. They have allowed just four runs total all year and have seen their last three games end in the fifth due to the 10-run differential mercy rule.

Senior Ty-Noah Williams (2.0, 1.51 ERA) is the bona fide ace of the pitching staff, but junior Garrett "Kamea" Wong has shown promise as the No. 2 starter coming off an injury last season.

"He's come back in a big way this year on the mound," Ebanez said of Wong, who struck out six and walked one in a five-inning, one-hit shutout win over Farrington on March 16, and will get the starting nod against the Rams Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Rams (3-1) have won their last three games since a lopsided 15-5 season-opening loss to Farrington. Since then, they have outscored their opponents 31 to 6, and are tied for second place with Waialua.

"I think we issues 16 free bases against Farrington and if you give up that many walks you'll have a problem beating anybody — I don't care if you're the No. 1 team in the country," Radford coach Jacob Sur said. "We just couldn't adapt to the umpire and the zone. Everything went wrong in that game, but we're bouncing back right now and the pitching is doing better."

Senior Tjader De Alba (2-0, 0.64 ERA) has asserted himself as the staff ace and is also getting the job done at the plate with a .400 batting average.

"He's not overpowering, but he battles in the zone and throws strikes," Sur said of De Alba, who is one of five seniors that have been crucial to the Rams' strong leadership this season.

The other seniors are catcher Dominic Albalos, shortstop/closer Jacob Nishitomi, centerfielder Quintin Iriarte and first baseman Tayvis Passos. Iriarte and Passos have also logged innings on the mound this year.

"You can totally tell that if we're in the game it's because of our five seniors," Sur said. "They're going to have to lead the way. Against Farrington those guys weren't doing so good and it kind of spreads to the rest of the team if they're not doing well, so those guys have to do what they have to do. They're our solid foundation and they play a huge part in our success."

Radford has its share of youth with five freshmen and three sophomores.

"I think the biggest thing I'm learning is that we're young. We're very young and we're going to make mistakes here and there," Sur said. "We've got about three or four freshman that play a lot on our team and a couple of our freshman came through (in Wednesday's 2-1 win over Kalaheo), so it's good to see the kids stepping up and playing like upperclassmen."

Carter Ogino (1-0, 5.00 ERA) will start for the Rams Saturday, which will provide a stiff test for the freshman — just the way that Sur likes it.

"I told the players that this week would show what kind of team we are because we had Kalaheo (Wednesday) and Kapolei Saturday and those are two very tough teams," Sur said. "I wanted to build up a little more pressure in practice because it's going to be like this in the playoffs. The key for us is going to be how we handle the pressure. We're not an overpowering team and we don't really have the top tier talent to overcome mistakes."

First pitch between the Rams and Hurricanes is scheduled for 11 a.m.