Joey Cantillo struck out 10, his third consecutive start with double-digit Ks, in the Surfriders win over Roosevelt. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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MAKIKI – Joey Cantillo was perfect for five innings, not so much in the sixth, but his outing was good enough to help No. 10 Kailua beat Roosevelt, 8-1, Wednesday at Stevenson Middle School field.

Coupled with Moanalua's loss to Castle, the Surfriders (8-3) pulled into sole possession of second place in the Oahu Interscholastic Association East, a game behind Kalani, and extended their win streak to six.

Cantillo (4-0), a junior left-hander, pitched a solid six innings, striking out 10, his third consecutive start with double-digit Ks, and two shy of his season-high 12 he had against Moanalua.

He was perfect through five, striking out nine of the first 15 batters he faced. The other balls put into play posed no threats.

Hopes of a no-hitter dissolved with the intermittent showers in the bottom of the sixth, when No. 7 hitter Ethan Valiente hit a liner off of Cantillo's glove to end the perfecto. While debatable whether, Cantillo should have handled the hit, all doubts were erased when Thane Kim doubled down the left-field line to send Valiente to third. Of course, even that hit was debatable, as there was no chalk line to be seen, leaving it a judgment call. Cantillo then walked Koby Brown to load the bases. But after coaching visit to the mound, Cantillo got Zach Harano to ground to short for a double play, as Valiente scored. Cantillo walked Jared Tamashiro, but got his 10^th strikeout of the game by fanning Kekoa Lima.

"I knew no one got on base ‘til then, but it doesn't matter," Cantillo said of losing the no-hitter. "It was a good team win. We made a lot of good plays out there."

Ishigo was pleased that Cantillo was able to pitch out of his own jam. "It's good he had some adversity, too," Ishigo said. "It was good that he came back and only one run (was allowed) from that inning."

Starting catcher Dalton Kalama pitched a scoreless seventh to end the game. The only batter to reach in that frame was by an error.

Ishigo has been bringing along his pitchers slowly. He noted that Cantillo threw about 81 mph early in the season and that he reached 87 mph against the Rough Riders.

"We're getting better as the season goes along," Ishigo said. "Baseball (season) in Hawaii is way too short and we don't like to rush (Cantillo) early. We don't like to rush any of our pitchers early. We don't play legion baseball in the fall. I like to give them some rest, so it takes them some time to progress. We know he's capable."

Cantillo had command of his fastball and breaking pitches in the first five innings. He was always near the plate. The only 3-0 count he ran came in the fourth inning, but he eventually retired Lima on a fly to center.

It was a crucial loss for the Rough Riders (6-5), who could have forced a three-way tie for second with a win. Instead, they fell to fourth. Coach AD Mols managed to see a silver lining on the cloudy day.

"It's nice to see an ace going into the playoffs," Mols said. "We needed to see that and that's good. But we have to clear some things on defense. Normally, we have a solid defense."

Roosevelt starting pitcher Hiram Kaikaina was hit for six runs in four innings. Kalama's third-inning sacrifice fly gave Kailua a 1-0 lead.

The Surfriders then sent 10 batters to the plate in a five-run fourth that was highlighted with Dustin Imanaka's two-run double and Noah Auld's two-run single. The fifth run came home on one of Roosevelt's five errors.

Kailua added two in the fifth on Kalama's second sacrifice fly of the game and Auld's infield single.

Roosevelt will play at Moanalua, 2 p.m. Saturday to end the regular season. Kailua will host Kaiser, 11 a.m. Saturday.

The 12-team OIA tournament starts April 20. The top two teams from each division will draw first-round byes. The top six will qualify for the state tournament set for May 4-7 on Maui.