By KEVIN JAKAHI
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
HONOLULU — After chopping down two giants — seven-time champ Punahou and top seed Kailua — Hilo’s Cinderella ride came to a crashing end at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association tournament.
Baldwin capitalized on two errors to score five runs in the second inning to topple the Vikings 6-2 in the semifinals of the Division I state baseball tournament on Thursday night at Les Murakami Stadium.
Hilo (15-6), the Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up, will play Pearl City (11-7), the defending state champion, at 1:30 p.m. today in the third-place game.
The Vikings, who got strong performances from Kian Kurokawa and Nick Fukunaga in the first round and quarterfinals, respectively, started sophomore right-hander Conrad Kauffman, who retired the side in the first inning.
Then everything unraveled in second inning, when the Bears, the Maui Interscholastic League champion and No. 4 seed, scored five runs (two unearned) on two errors, three hits and one walk, keyed by a base-loaded walk and hit by pitch.
Kauffman lasted 1 1/3 innings and took the loss. He allowed three hits and one walk. Jordan Tagawa followed with one-run relief in 3 1/3 innings. He yielded a run on three hits and one walk. Jodd Carter pitched two scoreless innings.
The Vikings, who only had three hits, took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Randall Iha was hit by a pitch and scored on a throwing error after Koa Matson hit a chopper to third base.
Meanwhile, Baldwin starter Troy Shishido, a senior right-hander, was cruising along and carrying a 6-1 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh. That’s when the Vikings started to make some noise.
Carter reached on an error, Tyler Higa-Gonsalves was hit by a pitch, and, after a flyout, Elijah Cruz belted an RBI double, cutting the lead to 6-2.
Kurokawa, the No. 9 hitter, was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. Then Iha hit a lineout to shortstop Brandon Kaupe.
It brought back visions of Hilo’s comeback win over Campbell in the state play-in game. The Vikings were down four runs with one out left, and pulled a rabbit out of the hat for a 6-5 win.
Junior shortstop Chayce Kaaua, who went 2 for 3 in the 3-2 upset over Kailua in the quarterfinals and the tying run, stepped to plate with two outs. On a 3-1 count, the UH verbal commit hit a high chopper to third, Rahni Pantorilla snagged the ball, and tagged out Cruz, extinguishing Hilo’s Cinderella run.
Baldwin 050 010 0 — 6 7 2
Hilo 100 000 1 — 2 3 2