From TGI Reports It’s all over. For the third consecutive season, Hanapepe has claimed the Americans of Japanese Ancestry baseball championship for the island of Kaua’i. Hanapepe wrapped up the title with a dramatic 7-7 tie against Kalaheo on Saturday
From TGI Reports
It’s all over.
For the third consecutive season, Hanapepe has claimed the Americans of Japanese Ancestry baseball championship for the island of Kaua’i. Hanapepe wrapped up the title with a dramatic 7-7 tie against Kalaheo on Saturday at Hanapepe Stadium.
The tie delivered Hanapepe the championship by a mere one-half point, and means the team — along with a selection of all-stars from the other teams — will represent Kaua’i at the state tournament. That tourney is scheduled for the weekend of April 7-8 at Aloha Stadium on Oahu.
Pitchers were the focal point of this year’s deciding contest, both on the mound and at the plate.
Hanapepe’s Wendall Nonaka came into the game with a 4-0 record, and a .548 average at the plate. In the same fashion, Kalaheo’s Kaina McCallum was 2-1 on the year with two saves, and sported a .576 batting average.
The two did not disappoint on Saturday. Each went the distance from the mound and both had stellar games at the plate.
Nonaka ended his 10 innings of work having given up seven runs on 10 hits. He struck out eight and walked six. McCallum was just as impressive, yielding seven runs on 12 hits, while striking out nine and giving up just two walks.
Each man brought his bat to the battle as well. Nonaka was 3-for-4 on the day with a home run and three RBI. McCallum was 4-for-6 with three RBI.
The game was tied after one inning, and remained that way until the fourth, when Kalaheo scored two to put Hanapepe in an unfamiliar position: behind. Kalaheo scored again in the fifth to go ahead 4-1. But after its half of the eight inning, Hanapepe had evened the score at 4-4.
Hanapepe went three-up three-down in the top half of the ninth. Kalaheo then put two runners on in the bottom of the ninth, but could do nothing with them. The game graduated to extra innings.
In the top of the 10th, Scott Yamase singled and came around to score on Nonaka’s third home run of the year. Dean Nonaka tripled and had enough left in the tank to score on Clifford Matsusaka’s sacrifice fly, extending Hanapepe’s lead to 7-4.
Battling back, however, Kalaheo countered in the bottom of the 10th. Kyle Higashi walked and advanced to second on a Scott Serizawa base hit. Troy Kaneshiro then tripled to right field, driving home Higashi and Serizawa. McCallum singled home Kaneshiro for the tying run, but three Kalaheo outs ended the game 7-7.
Here are some of the hitting highlights on the day:
Hanapepe
Nolan Albarado: two hits, RBI
Yamase: three hits, RBI, four runs scored
Dean Nonaka: triple, run scored, RBI
Matsusaka: hit, two RBI
Kalaheo
Serizawa: hit, three runs scored
Kaneshiro: triple, two RBI, run scored
Casey Oketani: home run, single, two RBI
