Parker's pitching sends Kailua to semifinals


Kailua pitcher Stone Parker gave up just three hits and retired 14 of the last 16 batters he faced. Leighland Tagawa | SL

MANOA — Stone Parker was a rock for Kailua Wednesday night.

The 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher held No. 2 and second-seeded Mid-Pacific Institute to three hits to lift the No. 6 Surfriders to a 6-1 quarterfinal victory in the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Division I Baseball State Tournament at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Surfriders (14-3) will play No. 3 and third-seeded Waiakea the 4 p.m. semifinal Thursday.

"It felt great," Parker said of the win. "I felt all the electricity from the fans, just all my teammates. It felt wonderful."

Parker retired 14 of the last 16 batters he faced after giving up an RBI single that tied the game at 1 in the third inning, as his Surfriders backed him with five runs in the last two innings. He allowed two walks and struck out two.

"That's a great hitting team," Ishigo said of MPI. "Stone's been doing this all season long. We're expecting nothing less from Stone to pitch us and give us a chance to win tonight."

"Stone was just on today," Kailua batterymate Kalua Neves said. "Most of the time it was first-pitch strikes and the first out of the inning was the most important."

Owls' starting pitcher Shion Matsushita kept the game close through five innings. He pitched 6 2/3 innings and was charged with six runs, nine hits and two walks with a strikeout. Matsushita was pulled after allowing a two-run homer from Neves. Shane Adams came in to get the final out of the top of the seventh.

"I felt I had enough (of the pitch) to get it out," Neves said of his homer over the right-field fence.

Kailua staked Parker to a 1-0 lead with aggressive base running. With one out, Matt Kaleohi grounded a single to center, stole second and third bases before Cody Riturban walked. Jalen Ah Yat, who was 3 for 3 in the game, singled to right to score Kaleohi to give Kailua the lead. But Matsushita got Neves to ground into an inning-ending double play to minimize the damage.

The lead was short-lived as the Owls responded in the bottom of the third. Breyndon Nakamura led off with a walk, took second on Hunter Hirayama's sacrifice and went to third on a wild pitch. Wyatt Young walked before Jacob Yoshino grounded a single to left to score Nakamura.

The Surfriders took the lead in the sixth. With one out, Ah Yat singled and pinch runner Shane Kalawaia stole second before Neves was intentionally walked. Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo lined a single to left-center to score Kalawaia that moved courtesy runner Brandon Sarae to second to make it 2-1. Bryson Ballesteros then reached on a wind-blown pop-up single that loaded the bases. Dakota Kadooka grounded out to second to move the runners to make it 3-1 before Parker grounded out to Matsushita to end the inning.

The Surfriders insured their lead in the seventh with three runs on Ah Yat's RBI single and Neves' two-run shot.

Cameron Ching led off the bottom of the seventh by reaching on dropped pop up by second baseman Dayne Ishigo. But Parker got the next three batters to end the game.



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].