By KEVIN JAKAHI Tribune-Herald sports writer ADVERTISING The short-handed East Bay Lumberjacks needed pitching help and the Hawaii Stars were willing to oblige, turning teammates into opponents. Pitchers Roberto Feliciano and Michael Kenui were traded by the Stars to the
By KEVIN JAKAHI
Tribune-Herald sports writer
The short-handed East Bay Lumberjacks needed pitching help and the Hawaii Stars were willing to oblige, turning teammates into opponents.
Pitchers Roberto Feliciano and Michael Kenui were traded by the Stars to the East Bay Lumberjacks on Wednesday before their ballgame. It’s independent professional baseball, not a pick-up game at the ballpark, so a trade was required to make the transaction official.
Later that night, the Stars scored six runs off the pair to edge the Lumberjacks 8-7 in a Pacific Association game at Wong Stadium, extending Hawaii’s winning streak to 5 of 5 against its last-place colleague.
Hawaii (19-25) and East Bay (1-16) conclude the three-game series at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the UH-Hilo field. Ronnie Loeffler (0-2, 3.04 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Stars. There are no games today or Friday.
On Saturday, it’s Fan Appreciation Day with free admission at UHH. There is no concession and fans are allowed to bring in coolers, food and drinks. Alcohol is prohibited. There is no shade covering and fans are recommended to bring umbrellas and sun screen.
The Stars trailed 6-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. Then they rallied for four runs on three hits off Kenui, who took the loss in one inning of work.
Dustin Smith had a bases-loaded RBI fielder’s choice, Katsuaki Furuki followed with a sacrifice fly, and Brenden Davis reached on an error, which scored two runs.
Feliciano pitched three innings in relief and gave up two runs on two hits and two walks.
Reggie Taylor batted 3 for 4 with two RBIs, Davis 2 for 4 and Felix Brown 2 for 3 to lead Hawaii, which finished with 10 hits.
Mike Jackson Jr. pitched 2 1/3 innings of one-run relief for the win. Tony York recorded a two-out save.
Onan Masaoka started, allowed six runs (three unearned) in five innings. He gave up six hits and four walks and whiffed eight. Cortney Arruda followed with a three-strikeout scoreless inning.
Fransisco Leon started for East Bay and yielded two runs in four innings.
Tommy Lyons batted 2 for 5 and DJ Andrade went 1 for 5 with two RBIs to lead the Lumberjacks.
Former UH-Hilo standout John Abreu played shortstop, batted 1 for 2 and drew three walks for East Bay.
Free Stars clinic
The Stars will conduct a free youth baseball clinic Friday at the Victor Colt Field for boys and girls ages 7-12. Registration will be from 8 to 8:45 a.m. at Victor Stadium, with the clinic scheduled to start at 9 a.m. and run until 11 a.m. All participants are asked to bring their gloves, bats, helmets, shoes and water bottles.
For more information, contact Joey Estrella at 895-5977.
