OIA Baseball
Kahana, Campbell shine in prime time


  



Wed, Apr 20, 2011 @ [ 6:30 pm ]


FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Campbell 1 333XX10100
Kaiser XX024

W: Robert Kahana    L: Austin Ortega

KAIS: Makana Lyman 1-2; Austin Ortega 3.0 IP 3 ER 2 K
CAMP: Cole Nagamine 2-2 2 rbi 2 dbl; Robert Kahana 5.0 IP 0 ER 8 K


WAIPIO - Pitcher Robert Kahana was at his best on the mound and at the plate Tuesday night.

The senior right-hander fired a two-hitter and batted 3 for 4 with a double to help West fifth seed Campbell beat East fourth seed Kaiser, 10-0, in the opening round of the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red baseball tournament at Patsy T. Mink Central O'ahu Regional Park.

An OC16 statewide audience watched the Sabers amass 10 hits, including four doubles and a triple, to back Kahana'in a game called after five innings because of the 10-run differential mercy rule.

The Sabers will play at West champion Mililani, 3:30 p.m. Thursday in one quarterfinal.

In another opening-round games, Leilehua scored all of its runs in the first inning in a 5-2 win against Kahuku; Trey Kamachi pitched a two-hitter with seven strikeouts to lead Kapolei over Kalani, 5-1; and Roosevelt toppled 'Aiea, 19-12.

In other quarterfinals Thursday, Leilehua will visit Moanalua, Kapolei will travel to Kailua and Roosevelt will play at Pearl City. All games are 3:30 p.m.

Winner of the quarterfinals advance to the semfinals Friday at the higher-seeded team's site and all will secure Division I state tournament berths. The losers will play in the fifth-place bracket semifinals with the winners earning the OIA"s fifth and sixth state berths.

Kahana was at his finest in prime time, allowing two singles, though walking three, and striking out eight. After giving up a third-inning infield single, he retired eight of the last nine batters he faced. He struck out six of the last nine batters, including four in a row. Though his fastball hit 90 mph by one scout's radar gun reading, Kahana's curveball also was devastating to the Cougars.

"The biggest key for him was he threw his curveball for strikes," Campbell coach Rory Pico said. "He kind of went away from it for a little while, maybe for a lack of feel for it. That's one thing we really worked hard with him on Monday. To me, that's a pretty good pitch. Because he could throw that for strikes, he kept the batters off-balanced."

At times, his curve had so much bite that they hit the dirt, but Ka'alekahi deftly blocked all of them.

"He blocks all of them," Kahana said. "I give credit to him. I trust him with every ball. I just throw it."

Kaiser coach Mark Rasmussen was impressed.

"I told our guys, we just have to try to put the ball in play," Rasmussen said. "We have to adjust because he has a good fastball and a good curveball. I think he was the hardest thrower we've seen all year. We expected it, we worked on it, but he's just a good pitcher."

Kaiser was the only higher-seeded team to lose in the first round. Because the game was on TV, it was moved to a neutral site, taking the Cougars' home field away. Besides having to travel farther than Campbell, the game being played under lights probably favored a hard-thrower like Kahana.

"I don't know about a disadvantage (of playing at night), but you always want to play at home," Rasmussen said. "That's the advantage of being the higher seed. But it's all right. The kids enjoyed being on TV."

The Cougars also committed four errors that accounted for four unearned runs for starting pitcher Austin Ortega, who went three-plus innings. Only three of the seven runs he allowed were earned.

Joining Kahana with multiple hits for the Sabers were Donato Gallano (2 for 3, double) and Cole Nagamine (2 for 2, two doubles, two RBI). Sau Momoe was 1 for 1 with a triple.


Reach Stacy Kaneshiro 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

Waialua stuns Kailua in five sets to win first-ever OIA D2 crown

The Bulldogs dropped the first two sets and rallied for the next three to stun the Surfriders for their...

Moanalua fends off Mililani in 5 for fifth straight OIA boys volleyball title

Ezekiel Sablan put down 20 kills, Jaycen Bush tallied 14 and D'Angelo Ross added 13 to lead Na Menehune...

Punahou needs extra innings to top Maryknoll, keep season alive

Buffanblu scored five big runs in to break a 2-2 in the top of the ninth then held off a Spartans' rally...

Higashionna leading the charge for Pearl City; Bautista's emergence a boon for Mililani

The junior second baseman batted 9 for 15 in four OIA tournament games for the Chargers last week, while...

Trojans sweep past Knights, Na Menehune cruise by Sabers to set-up familiar OIA final

Wednesday's OIA Division I championship will be a rematch of the last two title games; Moanalua will...

Aiea downs Radford to claim first OIA D2 title since 2017

Na Alii led early and rapped out 13 total hits to pull away from the Rams to clinch their first OIA Division...