Moanalua shakes off slow start to advance over Kapolei

Moanalua pitcher Coy Sasano had his best performance of the year on the mound, allowing just one hit in five innings and striking out four to help Na Menehune rally from a 4-0 deficit. Michael Lasquero | SL

This one was starting to get out of hand early.

Then the home team flipped the switch.

Moanalua rallied from a 4-0 deficit and reliever Coy Sasano pitched five strong innings to help complete the comeback as Na Menehune advanced over visiting Kapolei, 7-4, Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the OIA Division I playoffs.

Na Menehune (8-5), the third-seeded team from the East, move on to face West No. 2 seed Pearl City (8-2) Thursday in a 3 p.m. quarterfinal contest.

The Hurricanes got on the board in the top of the first when leadoff batter Jesiah Chock scored on a fielding error. One inning later, Chock came up with a two-RBI hit to make the score 3-0. An uncaught strike three with the bases loaded added another run for Kapolei to make it 4-0 at the half-inning mark of the second frame.

Moanalua finally started to get some momentum going in the bottom of the second when it was able to load the bases with no outs. Shayde Koga's groundout to first scored cleanup hitter Connor Dempsey and a fielding error allowed another runner to score to make it a 4-2 game after two innings.

Na Menehune starter Koen Smith walked the first batter he faced in the top of the third, his fifth walk of the game, which opened the door for Sasano to come into the game in relief. Sasano and the defense promptly got the next three batters out to end the threat.

The home team's bats went deep to take the lead in the bottom of the third. Three-hole hitter Taven Hathaway slapped a double against the outfield fence to score Nate Alvaro for the team's third run. Dempsey followed this up with another ball over the centerfielder's head, this time in shallow territory. He was able to stretch the play into a triple, which scored Hathaway to tie the game. Colby Casinas sac fly at the next at bat brought Dempsey home for the go-ahead run.

Kapolei, who saw its season come to a close with a 1-10 record, could get nothing going the rest of the day against Sasano, who pitched a season-high five innings in his best performance of the season. He faced 16 batters, just one over the five-inning minimum, and allowed just one hit while striking out four with no walks.

Na Menehune added a pair of insurance runs in the fifth inning, with a passed ball scoring run No. 6 and a Z Miyashiro RBI that allowed Dempsey to score his third run of the game.

Matthew Kapololu was tagged with the pitching loss for Kapolei. He went four and one-third inning before giving way to Landen Sanford, who started the game at second base.