OIA Baseball
Kalani escapes with 6-5 win over Kapolei


  



Thu, Apr 13, 2017 @ [ 3:00 pm ]


FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 89 R H E
Kapolei 0 32000000553
Kalani 3 0 0010101653

W: Micah Kawano    L: Zachary Collins

KLNI: Kohl Suehiro 1-2 3 runs; Harrison Moy 7.0 IP 4 ER 6 K
KAP: Joe Uesato 1-3 3 rbi dbl; Dionisio Tapat 5.6 IP 1 ER 4 K


KAIMUKI — Kalani is one step closer to a return trip to the title game of Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I baseball tournament.

Hunter Lau scored on a throwing error in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Falcons rallied to walked off with a 6-5 win over Kapolei in a quarterfinal round game at Kaimuki High School Thursday afternoon.

Kalani, the No. 2 seed out of the Eastern Division, will advance to Friday's semifinal round at Les Murakami Stadium and face fourth-ranked Campbell at 7 p.m.

The Falcons improved to 10-3 with their fourth win in their last five games and also secured a spot in the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA State Championships in two weeks.

Kalani spotted starting pitcher Harrison Moy with three runs in the bottom of the first, but saw Kapolei tie it in the next half-inning on Joe Uesato's two-out, bases-clearing double.

The Hurricanes pulled ahead in the third, when they got another two-out base knock on Kyler Nakashima's double down the third base line to score Andrei Stoyanow and Adam Berg.

Kalani manufactured a run in the top of the fifth to pull within 5-4. Kohl Suehiro stole second after being hit by a pitch by Kapolei pitcher Zachary Collins. A passed ball allowed Suehiro to move to third before Bronson Matsumoto's sacrifice fly to centerfield brought him home.

Suehiro got on base with a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh and stole second — his fourth of the game — before plating the tying run on a two-out single by Matsumoto that went by Corey Slade at third base.

"He started me out 0-2, so I just widened out, shortened up my swing and just tried to put something on the ground so they had to make a play and luckily I hit something and they just missed it, I guess," Matsumoto said.

Kapolei got a pair of base runners aboard in the top of the eight. However, Andrei Stoyanow was erased trying to steal second after drawing a four-pitch, leadoff walk due to a batter's interference call at the plate on Berg. Berg, who eventually singled, was left stranded at first to end the inning.

Collins, the Hurricanes' third pitcher used, got No. 9 hitter Logan Cabbat to strike out looking to start the bottom of the ninth. However, Lau beat out the throw from shortstop for an infield single to start the rally. Suehiro's sacrifice bunt pushed Lau into scoring position and brought Chad Kagawa to the plate.

Kagawa hit a chopper to the hole between third and second, which was fielded by shortstop Bradyn Yoshida, but his throw was high and just out of the reach of first baseman Stoyanow, and allowed Lau to score the winning run.

"I saw (Yoshida) playing in, so I bounced out and I made sure I went back because he looked at me and then he made the throw to first, I saw (Stoyanow) bobble it and I just booked it," Lau said.

Kalani didn't get its first hit until a Travis Toyama single in the bottom of the fourth, but clutched up late in the game.

"We don't hit much (but) it's been that we've somehow find a way to win," Falcons coach Shannon Hirai said. "Today we were kind of lucky. We did what we were going to do, which was we were going to run, try and put pressure on them and we were lucky that we got some bounces our way. The guy throws the ball high … usually we do that."

Lau, the Falcons' leadoff hitter, was 0 for 3 with a walk and a fielder's choice before his final at bat.

"I knew I just had to get on the bag. That's all I needed to do and hopefully I could take second, get moved over to third and that's what I did," Lau said. "Our boys just came through."

Moy allowed five runs — four of them earned — on four hits over seven innings. He struck out six and walked one and threw 93 pitches.

After the Hurricanes took the lead in the third, Moy retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced. Their only base runner during that stretch reached on an error.

"He did a great job, threw plenty of strikes," Lau said of Moy. "They hit the ball where we needed to be and then we just made the play."

Matsumoto, Moy's batterymate behind the plate, took the blame for the two pitches that led to Kapolei's runs.

"It was actually my fault. I called some bad pitches for my pitcher, so as a result of that they hit the ball, but our defense clutched up in the end and got us out of the inning," Matsumoto said.

Hirai said Moy, his senior ace, did a good job of overcoming a shaky start.

"He's kind of dizzy, so sometimes the situation just goes over his head, but he's always been that way," Hirai said. "I was kind of a little bit mad at him because I think he kind of took it easy instead of going hard at them because we had a three-run lead. He beans the guy and walks the guy in the same inning. He hasn't been that wild all year, so it was kind of unlike him."

Micah Kawano, who started the game at third base, pitched the final two innings to get the win.

Kapolei, the West's third seed, used three pitchers in the loss. Left-hander Kamea Wong started but failed to get out of the first inning. He walked two batters, hit another and was charged with three runs. Wong recorded just one out before he gave way to DJ Tapat, who kept the Falcons in check for one run on two hits in 5 2/3 innings of relief. Tapat struck out four and walked one in 74 pitches.

"He did an awesome job. He always saves the day for us," Hurricanes coach Tom Ebanez said. "He should be wearing a cape, because he's one of our superheroes right now."

Collins entered the game in the bottom of the seventh and was charged with two runs on three hits and was the losing pitcher.

"We had a lot of chances and we didn't seal the deal when we had to," Ebanez said. "For us, it's just another lesson learned for our kids and not only in baseball, but in life, too, so when you don't take care of things when you're supposed to, it comes back to haunt you."

Kapolei, which was coming off an 11-1 win over Castle in Wednesday's first round, saw its three-game win streak snapped to fall to 7-7.

The Hurricanes clinch their first Division I state tournament appearance with a win over Kaiser in Friday's consolation semifinals. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Kapolei.

The championship semifinal between Kalani and unbeaten Campbell will follow the early semi between Kailua and Mililani at 4 p.m.

Kalani reached the OIA final last season, but lost to Kailua, 7-5.

Admission will be charged at Les Murakami Stadium.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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