By KEVIN JAKAHI
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
KEAAU — Life is suddenly filled with nothing but sunshine, high drama and endless excitement for Keaau on the softball diamond.
The Cougars rallied for two runs in their last at-bat to upend Hilo 4-3 in a key Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I game on Friday, jumping into a second-place tie with the Vikings.
Three days earlier, Keaau (6-2) stopped Waiakea’s 59-game winning streak, surviving two bases-loaded pickles in a 5-1 victory.
Against Hilo (6-2), the Cougars and starting pitcher Chelsey Pacatang-Hirai again played with fire, filling the bases twice, in the second and third innings, and surrendering only one run. Another run scored before the bases were loaded.
After Raven Hall’s RBI single gave Hilo a 1-0 lead, Pacatang-Hirai walked Tracee Fukunaga to crowd the bases. She squashed that pressure, getting two strikeouts and a flyout.
In the third, Hall cranked a run-scoring single with the bases loaded with one out. Then Fukunaga hit a come-backer to Pacatang-Hirai who fired home for a forceout, and catcher Ayanna Silva threw to third, ending the threat. It made for a funny moment because the ball slipped on Silva’s throw, but her grounder still beat the runner.
Keaau answered off Ashlyn Kaneshiro with a run in the bottom of each inning when Hilo scored. Silva had an RBI double in the second, and Pacatang-Hirai chipped a well-placed high wedge shot for a run-scoring single in the third.
The Viks benefited from two errors and scored an unearned run in the fifth, then Momi Cariaga threw an ice-cold blanket over them and pitched two innings of scoreless relief with one strikeout for the win. Pacatang-Hirai went five innings, allowed three runs — only one earned — on five hits and five walks, and struck out four.
“It was a nerve-racking game, but exciting at the same time,” Cariaga said.
Kaneshiro, who went the distance in an 8-6 win over Kamehameha a day earlier, took a tough-luck, complete-game loss. She allowed four runs on eight hits and two walks, and struck out one.
In the seventh, Shantell Pacatang-Hirai walked on four pitches and leadoff hitter Rylan Hakoba singled to left, putting runners on first and third. After Hilo third baseman Seini Nau made a diving catch, Jacy Pagala bounced a ball to first baseman Caitlyn Price, who went deep to her right.
“Our last at-bat was nerve-racking, but I had confidence in our team,” Pagala said. “I thought we’d pull through in the end.”
Price looked to throw to first, but no one was there. Pagala, who played basketball and soccer and owns a fast set of wheels, outraced Price to the bag for an RBI infield single. Hakoba later scored on a wild pitch, sending the Cougars to their second straight emotional win.
“The girls showed up late for the game,” Keaau coach Boy Wong said. “The girls didn’t arrive until the last inning. Our pitching kept us in the game after we made those mistakes.
“I’m pretty happy with the outcome. Momi did a good job, and we showed a little bit of excitement in this game.”
Pagala was 2 for 4 with an RBI and Hakoba was also 2 for 4 to lead the Cougars, who lost to Hilo 8-7 in the first meeting, despite holding a 7-1 lead.
Hall batted 2 for 2 with two RBIs to lead the Vikings, who last went to the state tournament in 2009.
Keaau’s win made the musical chairs’ battle for the Division I East’s No. 1 seed far more interesting. In the BIIF tournament, the East No. 1 will play the East No. 3; Kealakehe (the only Division I West team) will play the East No. 2.
Hilo coach Leo Sing Chow knows the value of being the No. 1 seed, which guarantees a home game in the race for the league’s lone automatic state berth. The BIIF runner-up will have a play-in game.
“For the last few years, we had to travel to Kealakehe. That travel wears on you,” she said. “Ideally, you would like to stay on this side and be the No. 1 seed. But at the same time, you have to adjust and give it your best whatever situation you’re in.”
But more than anything, Keaau’s Wong knows the East No. 1 seed comes with special privileges.
“It’s good to be the No. 1 seed because it is a confidence boost,” he said.
Hilo 011 010 0 — 3 5 3
Keaau 011 000 2 — 4 8 3
Waiakea 7, Kamehameha 2: Skyler Agrigado homered and tripled to finish with four RBIs and Chelsea Camello struck out seven in a three-hitter as the host Warriors rebounded after suffering their first league loss in five years.
Agrigado’s homer was her second in the past three games, a deep opposite-field drive to the gap in right-center with a runner aboard in the third inning to give Waiakea a 5-1 lead. In the first, the senior third baseman stroked a two-run triple to right. With two runners aboard in the sixth, Agrigado just missed another extra-base hit when her fly down the left-field line curled foul. She finished 2 for 4.
Waiakea (6-1), which saw its 59-game BIIF winning streak end in a 5-1 loss Wednesday at home to Keaau, moved back into first place in the Division I East standings, one half-game ahead of the Cougars and Hilo.
Camello helped get Waiakea back on a winning track by retiring 15 of 16 batters after an error helped Kamehameha take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The senior right-hander allowed an earned run and a walk.
Junior catcher Gayla Ha-Cabebe was 2 for 2 with a walk for Kamehameha (3-6). She tripled to left field in the sixth and scored on Jaylen Shiroma’s RBI single. In the first, Ha-Cabebe singled and courtesy runner Kalyn Kanaeholo eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Samantha Simmons pitched six innings and took the loss, yielding six earned runs on eight hits and six walks — four to catcher Ariana Mareko.
Waiakea shortstop Brandi Maximo was 2 for 2, singling to lead off the bottom of the first and scoring on a balk.
Waiakea tacked on two insurance runs in the sixth with the help of two throwing errors. Pinch hitter Melissa Tubera led off with single and Anela Granito-Wallace added a run-scoring hit.
Kamehameha remained a game ahead of Pahoa in the East Division II standings, and the Warriors own the tiebreaker after winning two of the three meetings against the Daggers.
Kamehameha 100 001 0 — 2 3 2
Waiakea 302 002 x —7 8 1
Ka‘u 4, Pahoa 3: Shaylin Navarro pitched a six-hitter to help the Trojans (1-6) earn their first win of the season.
She outdueled Vaaigaomata Wilson, who also went the distance in the loss for Pahoa (2-7)
No other stats were available.
Pahoa 000 030 0 — 3
Ka‘u 200 002 x — 4
Konawaena 7, Kealakehe 3: Freshman Bethany Batangan allowed just three runs in six innings, and Saxon Nagata highlighted a five-run fifth inning with a two-run homer.
Batangan has assumed most of the starting pitching duties for visiting Konawaena (3-3) after Alexis Fujikawa sustained an ankle injury before the start of the season.
Against the Waveriders (4-3), Batangan allowed seven hits and four walks while striking out one. Fujikawa then pitched the seventh inning, walking both Kaleanani Anakalea-Haleamau and Nicole Rivera before allowing a Summer McEntee hit that loaded the bases with nobody out. The senior recovered by promptly striking out the side.
Offensively, Fujikawa tied the game at two in fifth inning with an RBI single, setting up Nagata’s two-run homer.
Nagata also tripled in the contest, finishing 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Ashley Isisaki took the loss for Kealakehe. In five innings, she gave up six runs on four hits, striking out six and walking four.
At the plate, Isisaki gave the Waveriders a 2-1 lead with a two-run single in the bottom of the first.
Konawaena 100 050 1 — 7 6 2
Kealakehe 200 001 x — 3 8 4
Kohala 10, Hawaii Prep 7: A catcher’s interference call with two outs in the fourth inning paved the way for a six-run inning, helping the Cowgirls beat the Ka Makani in Waimea.
HPA (2-5) had taken a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when junior Camille Kiyota doubled and scored on an RBI single by senior catcher Stacie Doi.
But with a runner on base and two outs in the top of the fourth, Kohala leadoff batter Jordelle Antonio hit a grounder to first base that would have ended the inning.
However, the home plate umpire ruled Doi interfered with Antonio’s swing, extending the inning as the next seven Kohala batters reached base. The Cowgirls (4-2) scored three of their runs on an infield error that cleared the bases.
Senior Chyler Imai earned the victory by going the distance in the circle. She allowed seven runs on nine hits, striking out two batters, walking four and hitting four.
Imai, and freshmen Tomiko Coito and Denae Rivera all went 2-for-4 at the plate, while junior Tiani Luga contributed an RBI single in a two-run fifth inning.
Sophomore Kawena Lim-Samura took the loss for the Ka Makani. In 4 2/3 innings, she allowed eight runs on six hits, walking five batters and striking out two.
Alex Disney went 2 for 3, with her two-run single highlighting a five-run sixth inning that got HPA within 8-7. Doi was 2 for 2, and Kiyota went 2-for-5.
Kohala 000 620 2 — 10 7 1
Hawaii Prep 100 015 0 — 7 9 4