OIA Baseball
Trojans gut out 3-2 win over Menes on Yonemori's walk-off hit


  



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


FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
Moanalua 0 0101000251
Mililani 0 2 000001343

W: Cole Mayeshiro    L: Tyler Nakata

MIL: Zach Lafata 2-3 rbi dbl; Shane Griffin 5.0 IP 2 ER 4 K
MOA: Ryne Oshiro 1-4 run; Tyler Nakata 6.0 IP 1 ER 3 K


MILILANI — Postseason baseball has arrived in the 808 state.

It was a wild Thursday afternoon in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Playoffs as three of the four quarterfinals round matchups ended in walk-off fashion.

With stakes high and a state tournament berth on the line, both teams brought out the best in each other as Mililani gutted out an extra-inning 3-2 walk-off victory over Moanalua in Thursday's game at Mililani High School.

Trojans' shortstop Bryce Yonemori slapped a groundball down the first baseline to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning.

"We just wanted to end it already," Yonemori said about the opportunity to end the game. "I just tried to stay calm and not make the situation any different. I was just trying to get a ball I could handle and just hit it hard somewhere."

The OIA West's second-seeded Trojans now advance to take on the East's top-seeded Kailua Surfriders in the first of two semifinal games Friday afternoon at Les Murakami Stadium in Manoa.

Although Moanalua's shot at the OIA Championship is over, it's not the end of the road for Na Menehune as they'll play Pearl City for a spot in the D1 state tournament and a chance at placing fifth in the OIA Playoffs.

"Just flush it and move on. We got a second chance tomorrow," Moanalua coach Scott Yamada said. "We just got to take care of what we do."

After beating Waipahu 9-1 in the opening round, Na Menehune's Christian Capinia got the nod for pitching duties on the mound against the Trojans. Capinia's day lasted only to the top of the second inning after loading the bases.

Tyler Nakata was brought on the rubber to tackle the situation, but Mililani third baseman Zach Lafata drove a ball up the middle to bring in Yonemori for the first run of the game. A wild pitch on the next batter allowed Preston Morales to score for a 2-0 lead.

Nakata then found his groove to settle in as he retired the next 18 of 20 batters leading up to the bottom of the eighth inning.

On offense, Moanalua responded to Mililani's two runs with Randy Tabura's rip to left centerfield in the top of the third inning to bring Ryne Oshiro home from second base.

Two innings later, a beaned batter and bunt reaching on an error set up an RBI single from pinch hitter Bryson Sato to tie the game.

Trojans pitcher Shane Griffin induced three-straight flyouts to prevent further harm. It would be the end of his day after five complete innings of work.

"He did enough to keep us in the ball game but going into the later innings, we just couldn't afford to put guys on base early in the inning," Mililani coach Mark Hirayama said. "We're not trying to save anybody. We'll just throw out there who we need to. We had to get past today."

Cole Mayeshiro took over and after giving up a leadoff walk, Moanalua's Skyler Yamamoto snuck a hit over the shortstop Yonemori to bring courtesy runner Rylan Miguel around third and headed for home. Centerfielder Morales fielded the hit ball and gunned an on-the-fly dart home for catcher Thomas Nakatsukasa's easy tag out.

The play mirrored the end of the bottom of the fourth inning when it was Na Menehune centerfielder Kaz Tachino giving Lafata the same fate of being thrown out trying to score at home.

To start the final frame of the game, Nakata gave a free base to Korrey Siracusa on his 76th and final pitch. Oshiro was brought in on the mound to try to extend the Menes' OIA Championship hopes for another inning.

But the Trojans were looking to end it as they seemingly went into walk-off procedure as if it was a routine they had already done before.

Mililani designated hitter Taylor Inouye sacrificed his at-bat to move a runner over — he bunted and flied out to centerfield in their walk-off wins against Pearl City and Aiea, respectively.

Then like the game against the Chargers nine days prior, Yonemori hit a single to bring a run in — only this time it was the one to seal the deal. In both games, it was Siracusa coming across home plate for the game-winning victory score.

Na Menehune will host Pearl City Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Salt Lake.

The Trojans will square off with the Surfriders at 4 p.m. on lower campus at the University of Hawaii. Kailua is also coming off a 3-2 win in extra innings.

"I'm not sure yet. We got 12 guys on the bench who can pitch," Hirayama said of who would get the start on the rubber against Kailua. "We can't afford to put guys on base and work our way out of that. It comes down to who's been more consistent lately and figure it out from there."



Reach Spencer Honda at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

Waianae holds off Castle; Mililani next

Teizsha Kaopuiki hit two home runs to power the Seariders in the opening round of the OIA Division I...

Surfriders erase early deficit, pull away from Falcons

Ninth-ranked Kailua scored 10 unanswered runs behind six scoreless innings of relief from DJ Kauahi to...

Pearl City ends Kaiser's season with playoff road victory

The Chargers rapped out nine runs on 14 hits, capped by Jayson Au Hoy's three-run home run in the top...

Shinagawa's catch spurred Cougars in OIA East finale; Painter continues producing for unbeaten Bears

The Kaiser junior centerfielder made a pivotal highlight-reel grab against Kailua Saturday, while the...

Campbell scores 11 runs in opening frame in rout of Leilehua

Ismael Diaz delivered a pair of two-RBI doubles as part of a 29-minute top of the first inning for the...

Kaiser improves playoff seeding with win over No. 7 Kailua to close out regular season

The Cougars plated a season-high 16 runs Saturday night to end the Surfriders' 10-game win streak and...