Roosevelt rallies in final two innings to stun Kaiser

The Roosevelt Rough Riders celebrate after getting the final out in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Kaiser Cougars. Brian Bautista | SL

WAIPAHU — The Roosevelt baseball team flipped the script Saturday afternoon.

The Rough Riders rallied from a 6-0 deficit after five innings to stun Kaiser, 7-6, in the first game of an OIA Division-I double-header at Hans L'Orange Field.

Roosevelt did all of its scoring against the Cougars' bullpen, sending its entire lineup to the plate in the final two innings. Five-hole hitter Nakoa Aiu jumpstarted the rally with a triple to center field to lead off the top of the sixth and Austin "Coop" Taniguchi drew a two-out walk with the bases loaded to score Jeff Spurling for the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh.

"They've just been resilient all year," said Roosevelt coach AD Mols, whose team improved to 5-2 in league play.

"When you get down in high school, it's easy to pack it in, but they've never packed it in this whole year. It's almost like they kind of expect to be in a fight and at the end, they've been finishing strong. It's just awesome to watch."

The Rough Riders were patient at the plate in their comeback bid. Four of their runs scored came on bases-loaded walks as the Cougars' bullpen trio of Ian Tsukiyama, Rylan Kawakami and Taylin Oana struggled to find the zone.

Nine-hole hitter Kaden Chun drew a walk in each of the final two innings, scoring Tokujiro Wada-Goode for Roosevelt's first score and courtesy runner Phoenix Takara to tie the game at 6 with no outs in the top of the seventh.

"These guys are not going to be viewed as a power-hitting team per se, but they can find ways to get to first," Mols said of his team's plate discipline.

Tsukiyama was pulled after walking Chun, but Kawakami didn't fare any better when he walked Brayden Moy, which scored Jeff Spurling for Roosevelt's second run. Torin Hirasa kept the lineup moving with a single to center field to drive in pinch hitter Brett Kondo to make it a 6-3 game. Chun would later come home on an RBI groundout by Taniguchi before the half-inning ended.

Oana, who started the game at shortstop, took over on the mound in the seventh and ran into trouble early after beaning Aiu and giving up back-to-back singles to Wada-Goode and Spurling, who drove in Aiu for Roosevelt's fifth run. The final two RBIs were credited to Chun and Taniguchi after drawing walks with the bases loaded.

"It all came down like a dam," Mols' said of his team's offense in the final two innings. "We had some good at bats, but I think they're starting to work together as a team. They don't feel like they got to do everything at the plate. Just get guys on."

Xavier Pressley was credited with the pitching win for Roosevelt, throwing one strikeout and just giving up one hit in the final two innings. Starter Ayden Rivera and Nathaniel Kurano were tagged with multiple runs, but four of their six combined runs allowed were unearned as the Rough Riders committed three errors.

The Cougars dropped to 2-5 with the loss, their fourth loss of the season with a blown lead. Kaiser also held a 4-0 lead over Roosevelt in both teams' league opener on March 2, but ultimately lost by a score of 5-4.

Before the Rough Riders' comeback, Kaiser freshman pitcher Bryson Toner was the story of the game. Toner allowed just two hits across five innings and threw seven strikeouts to help the Cougars strand seven Roosevelt runners.

Three-hole hitter Kade Hue and cleanup hitter Kanoa Morisaki were also having themselves a game for Kaiser. Hue doubled and tripled in his first two at bats while Morisaki had two RBIs and made a handful of key defensive plays playing at second base.