For at least one day, Honokaa coach Wesley Fujimoto wishes the dimensions at Honokaa Park weren’t as deep as they are. If so, the Dragons might have had a thrilling comeback Tuesday.
As it was, Hilo was able to exhale.
Zoe Cabarloc overcame 12 hits allowed in a complete game, and eight Vikings had at least one hit as they held off Honokaa 5-4.
Trailing by two runs entering the bottom of the seventh, the Dragons’ Neve Ebreo-Castillo doubled and scored on Taylor Tabucbuc’s single. With runners on first and second and two outs, Maluhia Sanchez put a charge into the ball, but it was caught just short of the fence at Honokaa Park.
“If we had 200-foot fences, I think it would have been gone,” Fujimoto said. “It’s about 215-220 here. The outfielders were playing deep.”
That helped the Vikings (3-1) rebound from their first loss since 2013. They lost 16-2 at Konawaena on Saturday.
Hilo’s Shalyn Guthier finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run scored, and Gaylynn Ha was 2 for 3 with a triple a run scored and an RBI. Cabarloc struck out three.
Keesha Matsuoka didn’t walk a batter in going the distance for the Dragons (1-3), striking out two.
Tabucbuc led Honokaa’s 12-hit attack, finishing 3 for 4 with a double, RBI and scoring a run. Sarah Sedillo and Ebreo-Castillo each doubled among their two hits.
“We improved a lot since Saturday,” said Fujimoto, whose team was coming off a 18-0 loss to Keaau.
Hilo 100 220 0– 5 10 3
Honokaa 000 201 1 –4 12 2
Keaau 12, Konawaena 7: Ranchell Berinobis and Rylann Hacoba each hit two-run doubles as the Cougars scored 11 runs in the first inning in Kealakekua and remained undefeated.
Lohi Kamakea-Wong pitched a complete game for the Cougars (3-0) and survived 13 hits – including home runs by Bethany Batangan and Teizha Kaluna.
Konawaena starter Jayssa Asuncion-Grace lasted just a third of an inning and was hurt by five walks. She was charged with eight earned runs and two hits with a strikeout.
Kamakea-Wong helped her cause with two doubles and two RBIs. She was 3 for 4 at the plate with two runs scored, and she struck out five in the circle with a walk. Only four of the runs she gave up were earned. Berinobis also doubled twice and scored twice.
After launching a two-run home run in the first, Kaluna added a run-scoring single in the seventh, going 3 for 4 with three RBIs and three runs scored for the Wildcats (2-2). Shyla Victor also was 3 for 4 and doubled, and she worked the final 6 2/3 innings in the circle. Lihue Wessel collected two doubles and drove in a run and Sierra Amor was 2 for 4.
Keaau (11)00 100 0 – 12 10 1
Konawaena 200 101 3 – 7 13 3
Kamehameha 14, Kealakehe 9: The Warriors went on the road to improve to 3-0, handing the Waveriders (3-1) their first loss of the season.
Further details weren’t available at press time.
