Aiea starter Jaryn Nakamoto throws a pitch to the plate against Leilehua. Brien Ing | SL

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Aiea's Patrick Villanueva makes contact with a pitch against Leilehua. Brandon Ching | SL

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Aiea's Elijah Tausaga steals second base as Leilehua's Coryn Iwamasa awaits the throw from the catcher. Brien Ing | SL

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Aiea's Tyren Takasawa slides into home plate ahead of the throw against Leilehua. Brandon Ching | SL

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Aiea grinded out an 11-6 road victory over Leilehua at Fred Wright Park, snapping a three-game losing streak and helping the Na Alii gain some much needed ground in the OIA Red West standings.

The only matchup on the OIA baseball docket on Good Friday lasted nearly three and a half hours, and saw 32 players make an appearance either at the plate or on the diamond, including eight different pitchers who issued 20 base-on-balls.

"Today was a marathon game, we hoped for a more comfortable victory, but Leilehua is a good ball club, scrappy, they don't give up and they were relentless." said Aiea head coach Ryan Kato.

From the outset, the game certainly did not appear to be heading in the direction of an endurance test, as both Aiea starter Jaryn Nakamoto and his counterpart, Leilehua's Cody Academia, struggled at times with command on the mound, but got out of their respective innings with just one run a piece hung up on the scoreboard.

Na Alii generated just enough offense through the middle innings to manufacture 4 runs, capped off by a Jason Abeshima RBI double in the third inning, and Nakamoto did his part on the mound, shutting down the Mules in order in the second and the third innings, and also made relatively quick work of the Leilehua batters he faced in the fourth.

"Wasn't my best day, it was still alright." remarked Nakamoto of his performance. "I kept them to one run, the defense backed me up and we had good hits here and there."

Aiea looked to break things open in the fifth, highlighted by a deep double by Patrick Villanueva that scored Daylan Pajimola, as the visitors racked up five runs on three hits to seize control of the game.

"I was feeling calm and relaxed, looking for the right one to hit, looking middle outside, just wanted to take a good approach with the bat today." said Villanueva of his mindset at the plate today.

But Leilehua returned the favor in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five runs of their own to keep things interesting heading down the stretch.

The Mules would not get any closer however, as Aiea continued to build on their lead, adding runs in the sixth and the seventh in support of Austin Yoshino, who pitched two scoreless innings to close things out for Na Alii.

"Its kind of a turning point, cause we were on a losing streak, so now we feel we can turn it around and get back in there (in the OIA Red West)." said Nakamoto.

Aiea has been all about the streak this season, having posted a pair of losses to open the season, followed by a trio of wins and most recently, a trio of losses, prior to today's victory.

"The thing that I am most proud of of this team is that they stick together and they execute the stuff that we practice." said Kato. "And they know now that when we play games like this, why we do what we do in practice. It reinforces our team concept."

Villanueva finished the afternoon 2-of-3 from the dish, with three runs scored and was also issued a pair of intentional passes. Pajimola crossed home plate three times and stole a base, and Jared Uyeda added a RBI double while batting 2-for-4.

For Leilehua, the usually steady Academia had an uneven afternoon on the mound, registering more walks (7) than strikeouts (4) in four innings of work, allowing seven runs (ER) on four hits. Ian Kaopua had two hits in three at-bats to lead the Mules offensively.