OIA Baseball
Campbell rallies to beat Mililani, 4-3, to win OIA title


  



Sat, Apr 25, 2015 @ [ 6:30 pm ]


FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Mililani 0 030000332
Campbell 0 2 0002X472

W: Ian Kahaloa    L: Keolu Ramos

CAMP: Tryzen Patricio 2-3 3 rbi dbl; Ian Kahaloa 7.0 IP 0 ER 10 K
MIL: Kaimana Souza-Paaluhi 1-3 run rbi trp; Keolu Ramos 4.7 IP 2 ER 3 K


WAIPIO - In typical dramatic fashion between the two division rivals, No. 1 Campbell scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to rally past No. 3 Mililani, 4-3, Saturday to give the Sabers their third consecutive Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I crown.

The Sabers (13-2) have earned the league's seeded berth into next month's Division I state tournament. For the Trojans, (12-3), it was the second time in eight days they gave up a lead in the bottom of the sixth against Campbell. In the regular-season finale, Campbell overcame a 3-1 deficit with a three-run sixth that helped it secure the Western Division's top seed for the 12-team OIA tournament. In the teams' first meeting, the Trojans rallied from a 1-0 deficit with a run in the seventh and another in the eighth to beat the Sabers, 2-1.

Some 250 spectators saw the dramatic finish when Tryzen Patricio doubled home the tying and go-ahead runs with two out in the bottom of the sixth and Ian Kahaloa finish off the Trojans by striking out the side in the top of the seventh to bury the Trojans, the only team that has scored and posted multiple hits against him this season. Kahaloa (4-0) struck out 10, including the final four hitters, in his three-hit, complete-game win. The three runs he allowed were unearned; he has yet to allow an earned run this season. Kahaloa retired the last 13 batters of the game to give his team a chance to rally.

"You have to give it to Mililani," Campbell coach Rory Pico said. "Mililani's a hell of a team. All year, they battled us. We knew it was going to be a battle. It was sweet the way it happened, to come up with a clutch, two-out hit at the end. We had some big at-bats that inning. (Keola) Himan was 0-2 and was able to draw the walk. That's all good things and, hopefully, we can carry that to the state tournament."

It was a heart-breaker for the Trojans, who capitalized on two Campbell errors in a three-run third after the Sabers took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning. It was looking like Trojans' closer Keolu Ramos was going to upstage Kahaloa. Ramos came in for starter Ross Kloetzel, who faced just eight batters in 1 1/3 innings. He struck out the first two batters he faced with runners at second and third to keep the damage to a minimum. Ramos allowed on three hits over the next three innings and was backed by superb fielding that, ironically, overcame two errors. Ramos matched his season total of 4 2/3 innings, but ran into trouble in the sixth, when he allowed two walks and a crucial wild pitch to set up Patricio's two-run double.

"He (still) had his good stuff," Trojans' coach Mark Hirayama said of Ramos, who had thrown 61 pitches. "He just left one over the plate. With the stuff that he has, we tried to be in, but he just left one over the plate. They don't give up. We've  been there before with them. (The Sabers are) a veteran club. We have to do a little bit more in clutch time and put things away. It's just one pitch."

Ramos' previous high in innings this season was two, against Campbell in the extra-inning win. But Ramos told HIrayama that he was good for four or five innings.

In the bottom of the sixth, Dorrien Villanueva-Hermosura drew a lead-off walk, but his pinch runner, Shane Shimizu, was forced out at second when Blayze Arcano-Llacuna reached first on the fielder's choice. There was some controversy on the play, when second baseman Blaine Demello dropped the ball on the hand transfer for the double play try. Ruled out originally, the umpires met and ruled him safe, only to reverse the call again. Kila Kapihe then reached first on a fielder's choice grounder that forced out Arcano.

On a 1-2 pitch, Kapihe stole second and went to third on a wild pitch on ball four to Himan to put runners at the corners. Himan stole second on the first pitch uncontested to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. On a 1-2 pitch, Patricio lofted a fly down the right-field line that fell just fair to score both runs. In his excitement, Patricio mis-read Pico, the third-base coach, and ran through his stop sign and out easily at third to end the inning.

"It was fastball away," said the right-handed hitting Patricio. "When I saw the tail (off the flight of the ball), I was hoping it would stay inside. I just landed by the (foul) pole fair."

Pumped up by the rally, Kahaloa struck out the side on 11 pitches to end the game.

Meanwhile, the Trojan hitters were making Kahaloa work. They made his use 62 pitches through the first three innings with 49 being strikes. But they managed to foul of 23 of pitches, Ty De Sa fouled off four pitches before striking out in a seven-pitch at-bat. Justice Nakagawa fouled off seven consecutive pitches in an 11-pitch at-bat before grounding out to Kahaloa.

"They had a great game plan," Pico said of the Trojans' approaches at the plate. "They've faced him before, so they had a plan. With two strikes, they widened their stances and just tried to put it in play. They fouled off a lot of pitches; they made him work, which is want you want to do against tough pitchers. They were able to get some good swings with two strikes to drive in runs in that three-run inning."

But from the fourth inning on, the table turned. Kahaloa 37 pitches in the final four innings. After Sonognini's RBI single gave Mililani a 3-2 lead, Kahaloa retired the final 13 batters he faced. The Trojans were aggressive at the plate, but not fouling off as many pitches, reducing Kahaloa's pitch count.

"I was real happy with our approaches early in the game," Hirayama said. "We were able to foul off a lot and he struck out a few guys, but we got to see a few more pitches and were able to string a few hits together and score a couple runs. But he's a quality pitcher. He's got a couple different pitches he throws. He's one of the best.

"We started squaring up a little more and putting the ball in play. We still hit the ball at them (fielders). (Kaimana Souza-Paaluhi) had that lead-off line drive to left that they caught. That's how it goes. As we look at it, we probably squared up on him a little bit more, started putting the ball in play early in the counts. We just tried to stay within ourselves. We have to go up there and be aggressive because he has enough command where, you get behind, he's going to throw that slider, curveball and eat you up and come back hard with that fastball."

Kahaloa's fastball topped out at 94 mph by one scout's radar reading.

After Kloetzel retired the Sabers in order in the first, his troubles began in the second. Villanueva walked, took second on Arcana's sacrifice and moved to third when Kapihe reached on a bunt single to third. With Kapihe running on the 0-1 pitch, Himan's line single to right scored courtesy runner Shimizu and moved Kapihe to third. After Himan stole second, Patricio's single scored Kapihe and sent Kloetzel out. Ramos struck out Jake Mendoza and Bula Sprinkel to minimize the damage.

But the Trojans struck in the top of the third. Kahaloa hit Demello on an 1-2 pitch to start the inning. CJ Ibara's sacrifice sent Demello to second, but Kahaloa's throw to second was wild, putting runners at first and second. After Kahaloa struck out Kainoa Wilson, Ryan Kono, who singled in the first, hit a grounder to shortstop Ibana, who fired to second baseman Mendoza for the second out, but Mendoza's relay to first was wide, allowing Demello to score. Kono took second on the errant throw and scored on Souza-Paaluhi's triple to right-center to tie the game at 2. Sonognini, whose RBI single in the bottom of the eighth in the Trojans' win against Campbell, lined a single to center to score Souza to give Mililani a 3-2 lead before De Sa popped out to short. The Trojans weren't heard from the rest of the game.

"That was the biggest error of that inning," Kahaloa said of his throwing error. "I think it did (affect me), honestly."

The three-run inning also woke him up.

"I just got (mad)," Kahaloa said. "No way. It can't happen like this. Can't happen. Not again, not again. That's it."

After watching batterymate Patricio deliver the go-ahead run, Kahaloa was pumped for the seventh.

"That was exciting," Kahaloa said. "That got me pumped up. It made me throw harder in the last inning."

Next up is the state tournament. The past two years, the Sabers have lost to the eventual state champion in the semifinals. Campbell is looking for its first state title since 1978.

"We'll celebrate this one for a couple days then get back to the grind, finish our goal: to win the states," Patricio said.



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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