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Kalani Takase | ScoringLiveApril 20, 2018, 7:39pm
Fri, Apr 20, 2018 @ [ 4:00 pm ]
W: Bryson Ballesteros L: Kulia Neal
KAIL: Kalua Neves 2-3 run dbl; Bryson Ballesteros 7.0 IP 0 ER 8 KPC: Shawn Iwane 1-3; Kulia Neal 6.0 IP 1 ER
MANOA — In a classic pitcher's duel, Kailua did just enough to back a complete-game one-hitter by Bryson Ballesteros to hold off Pearl City, 1-0, in the semifinals of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I baseball tournament Friday afternoon.
A crowd of about 200 fans at Les Murakami Stadium on the campus of the University of Hawaii at Manoa saw the Surfriders, ranked seventh in the ScoringLive/Hawaiian Electric Power Rankings, improve to 12-2 and advance to their third consecutive league final.
Kailua, the two-time defending OIA champion and top seed out of the Eastern Division, extended its win streak to six games and will face Mililani in the 7 p.m. title game Saturday at Murakami Stadium.
Pearl City, the West second seed, fell to 9-5 and will visit No. 3 for third place at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Ballesteros, a junior right-handed pitcher, recorded his fourth complete game to improve to 4-0. He has yet to allow an earned run in 32 innings of work this season.
"He did a good job today. He threw a lot of strikes," Surfriders coach Corey Ishigo said. "He finished the game, so that means he was under 110 (pitches) and he did what he had to do for our team today."
Ballesteros threw 65 of his 108 pitches for strikes and registered first-pitch strikes to 15 of the 25 batters he faced. He struck out eight batters and overcame four walks.
"I just did what I had to do and just got the job done, threw strikes and my pitch count was getting down to like two pitches at the end and I just threw strikes and my defense got my back," said Ballesteros, who induced four ground-ball outs and six fly-ball outs.
The four walks he issued was one shy of his season-high.
"I didn't have my best stuff, but I just had to work through it because I didn't have my change-up or slider, so I just threw fast balls and got a lot of strikes that way. My fast ball was my power pitch," Ballesteros said.
Pearl City managed just six base runners, of which five were left stranded on base — three of them in scoring position.
Iwane reached third but fails to score in the PC half of the fifth. Kaleiohi reaches w/two-out single and steals second, but is left stranded in KAIL half. Score remains 1-0, Kailua, after 5 complete. — Kalani Takase (@SLKalani) April 21, 2018
Iwane reached third but fails to score in the PC half of the fifth. Kaleiohi reaches w/two-out single and steals second, but is left stranded in KAIL half. Score remains 1-0, Kailua, after 5 complete.
Ballesteros walked Matt Aribal to lead off the game, but quickly erased him off the base paths by turning a double play after he caught a bunt attempt by Dillon Kaneshiro and fired to first baseman Jalen Ah Yat before Aribal could get back to the bag.
"I feel like he's been better, but you know, all that matters is that he did his own by holding them to zero (runs) and our offense just had to help him because he can't win the game for us," said senior center fielder Dakota Kadooka, who drove in the game's only run in the bottom of the second inning.
After the Surfriders went down in order on just seven pitches in the first inning, clean-up hitter Kalua Neves led off the second with a single to right field. Dylan Kurahashi-Choy Foo followed with a bunt single before Stone Parker's sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position.
Kadooka then drove an 0-1 pitch to right field for a sacrifice fly that allowed courtesy runner Brandon Sarae to score from third.
"I saw a fastball away and I just wanted to take it to right field, just like coach taught us," Kadooka said. "That's all we've been working on, just locating pitches and hitting them where they need to be hit."
Kadooka echoed the thoughts of his coach.
"Executing our offense and the little things, we preach that. We talk about it every day in practice and we executed a couple bunts today that helped us out," Ishigo said.
Ballesteros' gem overshadowed a solid effort from Pearl City starter Kulia Neal, who also went the distance. The senior right-hander threw 77 pitches, 48 of them for strikes, in six innings.
"Neal threw an excellent game as well. He threw a lot of strikes, kept us off balance and he was tough," Ishigo said.
Neal scattered five hits with one strikeout and a walk. He is now 0-3 on the season with a 3.15 ERA.
"He pitched a good game," Pearl City first-year coach Wes Yonamine said. "It was great pitching on both sides. What can I say? One hit."
The few scoring changes the Chargers did come across all were for naught.
Aribal drew a one-out walk in the top of the third inning and put himself into scoring position by stealing second, but Ballesteros struck out both Kaneshiro and Sam Prentice looking to get out of the jam.
Ballesteros took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but it was broken up by Shawn Iwane's one-out single to right field. However, Ballesteros got Jensen Kaya to ground out to shortstop before Aribal popped out for the third out of the inning.
Pinch hitter Caleb Young led off the Pearl City sixth with a walk before Kaneshiro re-entered and stole second. Prentice then struck out swinging for the first out before Ballesteros got clean-up hitter Cade Halemanu to pop out in foul territory down the first base line. Ballesteros then got Christian Pacrem to strike out on just three pitches to escape unscathed.
"Pearl City is a good team, like every year, so we just decided that we had to bring our best A-game because they bring their best A-game. We kept the score close, 1-0, but we really relied on our pitcher, Bryson, for dealing out a good game. He was coming close to dishing out his last pitches, so we just needed him to use his last pitches to win the game for us," Kadooka said.
Ballesteros entered the seventh inning with his pitch count at 94. He needed six pitches to strike out Pacrem for the first out and six more to get Cello Casarez to line out to second. Iwane then grounded out to first base two pitches later to end the game.
"I just told myself to get the job done, throw strikes and my defense had my back," said Ballesteros, who finished just two pitches shy of the 110-pitch limit.
The Chargers saw their three-game win streak snapped.
The teams have met in the OIA tournament in three consecutive seasons. Kailua has won all three times, including a 9-3 victory in the 2016 semifinals and a 3-2, 10-inning win in last year's league quarterfinals.
The Surfriders are seeking their 15th OIA championship.
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