By BILL O’REAR
By BILL O’REAR
Tribune-Herald sports editor
KEAAU — With her team holding a 3-2 lead against gutsy Keaau High School, Waiakea senior Skyler Agrigado stepped out of the batter’s box after fouling off a pitch and looked into the stands at her father, Baba Lancaster.
“He told me I had two more chances to hit it out,” Agrigado said.
The Waiakea slugger then crushed a towering 220-foot three-run homer over the left-field fence off Cougars starter Chelsey Pacatang-Hirai to give the Warriors a 6-2 advantage on their way to a hard-fought 8-3 win over Keaau in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I softball game between title contenders.
Agrigado, a third baseman with a potent bat, went 3 for 4 and drove in six runs to spark the victory. Besides the impressive home run, she also had a run-scoring single and picked up two more RBIs on a rare sacrifice fly out when two of her teammates motored home to stretch the final count to 8-3.
But it was the home run that had Agrigado smiling.
“It’s the first time I’ve hit a home run over the fence,” she said. “It feels good. It was a flat ball right over the plate and I hit it as hard as I could. As soon as I hit it, I had a good feeling it was going over.”
Agrigado said the Warriors (8-2) came into the game knowing it could be a battle all the way. After all, the Cougars beat Waiakea 5-1 on March 28 to snap the Warriors’ 59-game BIIF winning streak.
“We tried to come in focused and play as a team,” she said. “We know if we stick together, we can do it.”
Both teams were tight to start Saturday’s contest, played under overcast skies, with a slight breeze and an occasional light rain.
Pacatang-Hirai, a gritty southpaw, gave up infield singles to Brandi Maximo and Kawehi Granito-Wallace to open the first inning. But the Keaau pitcher bore down and except for a wild pitch and an error, the Cougars hung tough while Waiakea plated two runs in what could have been a much bigger inning.
In the second inning, Maximo doubled off the left-field fence and sprinted home on Agrigado’s single to center to make it 3-0.
Keaau (8-3) responded in the bottom of the second inning. Mahina Homalon singled and stole second, then raced to third on Shantel Pacatang-Hirai’s grounder to first base. Sabrina Nakaima then drilled a ground ball to the left side and Agrigado made a diving stop but couldn’t nab the hustling Nakaima at first as she recorded an infield hit.
Pakalana Kaneta-Nobriga followed with a grounder to short and when the ball was bobbled, the alert Homalon scampered home to cut the deficit to 3-1.
In the third inning, the Cougars struck again for a run. Senior Jacy Pagala reached on an error and scooted to second base on Homalon’s bloop single to short left. Aiyanna Silva then singled to left off Waiakea ace Chelsea Camello to pull the hosts within 3-2.
That set the stage for Agrigado’s home-run heroics in the fourth — the game-changer that boosted Waiakea’s confidence and stung the Cougars’ quest for another big upset.
Camello, a senior right-hander, bent but didn’t break the rest of the way as Keaau kept scrapping. Camello picked up the victory, striking out one and walking two while going the distance. The Warriors’ defense also committed three errors — not a favorite subject of Waiakea coach Bo Saiki.
“I think we improved on defense today,” Saiki said. “We made some errors, but we also made some important defensive plays when we needed them. And our bats came slightly alive today and that helped.
“Keaau is a tough team. They played excellent defense, but they had an off-day with the bats. They hit the ball, but they hit it right at people.”
The veteran Warriors coach also praised Camello for gritting it out against a quality opponent.
“Chelsea gets flustered sometimes and gets down on herself,” Saiki said. “She’s her toughest critic. But once she refocuses, she’s fine. Today, she hung in there and got the job done.”
Chelsey Pacatang-Hirai also had her bright moments. She showed her pitbull approach by going right at the Waiakea hitters and except for Agrigado and the steady Maximo, who went 4 for 4, the Cougars’ ace kept the hosts in the game.
Pacatang-Hirai hurled five innings and took the loss. She struck out five and walked two. Senior Momilani Cariaga came on to pitch the final two innings, allowing two runs on Agrigado’s sacrifice foul out.
The Warriors outhit the Cougars 11-9.
Cassie Ramos-Fujimoto and Homalon each went 2 for 4 to lead Keaau. Ramos-Fujimoto, Silva and Rylann Hacoba each added an RBI.
Keaau coach Boy Wong was not available for comment after the game.
The hard-fought contest drew one of the biggest crowds of the season at the Cougars’ field, including Keaau principal Dean Cevallos, who cheered on his team.
“It was a really good game,” Cevallos said. “Both teams played hard and hopefully we’ll get them the next time we play. Overall, it was a good game with a lot of sportsmanship.”
The only downside was when a foul ball sailed over the backstop and broke a car’s windshield.
“That doesn’t happen very often, but you’ve got to be careful to not park too close to the field,” a fan said.
Waiakea 210 302 0 — 8 11 3
Keaau 011 010 0 — 3 9 1
Hilo 10, Ka’u 6: The Vikings surged ahead in the bottom of the sixth inning, rallying for five runs at Walter Victor Complex to take sole possession of first place in the East Division I standings.
Fantacie Keahilihau-Kuamoo was 3 for 4 with a triple and Caitlyn Price went 2 for 4 with two RBIs for Hilo (9-2). Reisha Hoopii-Haslam also drove in two runs.
Ashlyn Kaneshiro allowed 13 Trojans hits but got the win, striking out six and walking four in a complete game.
Casey Koi was 3 for 4 and Shylee Tamura was 2 for 4 for Ka’u (1-9), which led 6-1 after scoring four runs in the third.
“We did not come (today) with the right frame of mind,” Hilo coach Leo Sing Chow said. “But we started bunching together hits in the sixth.”
Losing pitcher Shaylin Navarro walked one and struck out oen in six innings of work.
Ka’u 024 000 0 — 6 13 5
Hilo 100 135 x — 10 10 3
Kealakehe 14, Hawaii Prep 1: Senior Summer McEntee pitched a one-hit shutout in Waimea as Kealakehe improved to 6-3.
McEntee walked two batters and struck out five in a game that ended after five innings because of the league’s mercy rule. Kawena Lim-Samura denied McEntee a no-hitter with a single in the fourth.
Ashley Isisaki led the Waveriders at the plate, going 3 for 3 with four RBIs. Her two-run double in the third sparked a five-run third inning and a two-run double in the fifth highlighted a seven-run fifth inning.
McEntee went 2 for 3 as Kealakehe took advantage of 12 walks and five hit batsmen by HPA pitchers.
Lim-Samura took the loss for the Ka Makani (3-6).
Kealakehe 105 17 — 14 5 1
Hawaii Prep 100 00 — 1 1 2
Stephens Media contributed to this report.