LIHU‘E — With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning on Wednesday, Kaua‘i High School batter Aukai Arruda whacked an RBI single to score Colten Banquel from third base.
LIHU‘E — With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning on Wednesday, Kaua‘i High School batter Aukai Arruda whacked an RBI single to score Colten Banquel from third base.
Banquel’s run was all that was needed to break a 3-3 deadlock and push Kaua‘i High School into the winner’s cirle with a 4-3 win, and send the Menehune back to the dugout as Banquel stomped home plate in a cloud of dust.
Earlier in the night, Waimea took an early lead when Evan Yamaguchi got first after being hit by a Josh Rego pitch in the opening inning and scored for the Menehune’s first score.
Nobu Yamauchi advanced on a sacrifice play by Nakoa Bostick and scored on a Niko Yamauchi bang for the 2-0 Menehune lead in the fourth stanza. That led to a pitching change for the Raiders when Kaden “Paoa” Itamura took over for starter Josh Rego.
The Raider bats flexed, too when Dane Yamauchi scored on an Andrew Sadamitsu infield hit. Cyrus Fujimoto knotted the contest at 2-2 after scoring on a wild pitch, and Radon Sebastian’s score moved Kaua‘i ahead for the first time 3-2.
Waimea answered in the sixth frame when Jayden Moises scored on a Kaua‘i miscue to knot the contest at 3-3 until Arruda’s go-ahead bang that drove in Banquel for the win on the Raiders’ Senior Night, where eight graduating players were recognized by the Project Grad Chair Kaleo Carvalho.
The Wednesday victory sets up the make-up game on Saturday when Kaua‘i hosts Kapa‘a. The junior varsity contest starts at noon, followed by the first of two varsity contests start at 3:30 p.m. The second contest is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
Kaua‘i High School softball will host Waimea in a doubleheader starting at 9 a.m. with second place in the league and a play-in game in O‘ahu at stake. The play-in winner will earn Division II state softball tournament eligibility.
