OIA Baseball
Campbell's Kalaola two-hits Mililani


  



Wed, Feb 28, 2018 @ [ 3:00 pm ]


FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Campbell 0 010000161
Mililani 0 0 00000022

W: Jamin Kalaola    L: Charles Winchester

MIL: Korrey Siracusa 1-3; Charles Winchester 5.3 IP 1 ER 3 K
CAMP: Shayden Sabangan 1-4 run; Jamin Kalaola 7.0 IP 0 ER 4 K


MILILANI — Jamin Kalaola fired a two-hitter and Campbell edged host Mililani, 1-0, Wednesday in an Oahu Interscholastic Association Western Division baseball season opener.

It was a nail-biter with Campbell threatening to blow the game open as five of the six runners it stranded were in scoring position. The Trojans mounted a threat in the bottom of the seventh, only to strand the tying run on second.

The only run to score came on a third-inning wild pitch in a game that was completed in an hour, 40 minutes in part to the effectiveness of Kalaola, a senior right-hander. He threw 68 pitches, 50 for strikes while fanning four.

Of the three Mililani batters to reach — two on singles and the other on an error — none reached third base. Kalaola did not throw two consecutive pitches for balls until the sixth and did not reach a three-ball count until the seventh.

Kalaola had to be at his best because Trojans' sophomore left-hander Charles Winchester got into and out of trouble in a 93-pitch outing. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, scattering six hits and two walks with three strikeouts, but a two-out wild pitch with runners at second and third allowed the only run to score.

"He did a hell of a job," Campbell coach Rory Pico said of Kalaola's performance. "He pounded the zone. He ran into a little trouble in the seventh inning. He started to throw a lot of balls, but he was able to bear down and make pitches when he had to make pitches."

In the seventh, Korrey Siracusa, who struck out on three pitches in the previous two at-bats, singled to left-center on a 3-1 pitch. He took second on Ethan Thomas' sacrifice but was left there after Taylor Inouye flied out to right and Bryce Yonemori struck out to end the game.

"I think I was trying to do too much for myself and not staying within my game," Kalaola explained about the three-ball count to Siracusa. "After he got on, I just snapped back into (the game)."

Kalaola displayed command of his fastball, moving it around the plate to keep the Trojans guessing.

"He had really good command," Mililani coach Mark Hirayama said. "It was a little tougher fastball than we normally see. You don't see that all the time. It takes time to catch up to. He just went after us and got ahead (in the count)."

Shayden Sabangan led off the top of the third with a single to shortstop and took second on Ikaika Ganancial's flare single toward the right field foul line. After the runners advanced on Dylan Ramon's sacrifice, Winchester got ahead on Kalaola with a one-ball, two-strike count. Kalaola could not check his swing on a pitch in the dirt that went to the backstop to allow Sabangan to score and Ganancial to take third before Nicholas Sampson grounded out to short to end the inning.

The Sabers had chances to insure their lead after the third.

Roy Clemons Dias led off the fourth with a single, but pinch runner Shayden Banaay was thrown out trying to steal. Winchester then struck out Rory Escuardo and got Darien Robinson on a grounder to shortstop.

Campbell leadoff hitter Shayden Sabangan runs to third base in the third inning. Michael Lasquero | SL    Purchase image

In the sixth, Ramon walked and courtesy runner Logan Caravalho took second on Kalaola's sacrifice. Sampson beat out a bunt single to third that moved Caravalho to third. Winchester was lifted for right-hander Cole Maeshiro. On a 1-2 count on Clemons Dias, Sampson was caught stealing second, as Caravalho held third. Clemons Dias then struck out to end the inning.

In the seventh, Robinson reached on an error and went to second on a wild pitch before pinch hitter Varen Sabino struck out and Sabangan flied out to center to strand the insurance run at second.

"We ran ourselves out of a couple innings," Pico said. "We didn't clutch up when we had opportunities. Obviously, you want to score more than one run, but it's early in the season so we just have to go to work. We have to get some quality batting practice and hopefully we can start putting some good swings out there."

Though, Winchester pitched well enough to win on most days.

"He threw a lot of pitches, but he kept them off-balanced enough," Hirayama said. "He did a good job of keeping us in the ball game. It's early and we have some things we have to work on. Cole did a good job of keeping us in the game."

The Trojans visit Pearl City at 3 p.m. Friday, while the Sabers travel to Wahiawa Middle School Saturday to play Leilehua for an 11 a.m. game.



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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