For Waiakea, pitchers David Nakamura and Bryce Yamashita were standouts in a polar opposite type of game — really messy in the beginning and fairly clean later — at the 23rd annual Stanley Costales Sr. Memorial Baseball Tournament on Friday.
For Waiakea, pitchers David Nakamura and Bryce Yamashita were standouts in a polar opposite type of game — really messy in the beginning and fairly clean later — at the 23rd annual Stanley Costales Sr. Memorial Baseball Tournament on Friday.
Somehow, the Warriors survived seven errors to prevail over Kamehameha-Maui 6-5 in the semifinals and advance to the 6 p.m. championship on Saturday at Wong Stadium.
In other Friday games, Hilo defeated Leilehua 6-2, Kealakehe beat Hawaii Prep 7-5, and Waiakea edged Konawaena 4-2.
Pac-5 beat Kamehameha-Hawaii 5-1 in the other semifinals to reach the title game.
In other games Saturday, it’s Hilo vs. Konawaena at 8 a.m.; Leilehua vs. Kealakehe at 10:30 a.m.; Kamehameha-Hawaii vs. Hawaii Prep at 1 p.m.; Hilo vs. Kamehameha-Maui at 3:30 p.m.
“David and Bryce battled and kept us in the game,” Waiakea coach Rory Inouye said. “Errors will happen and Jaron Kawaguchi (the shortstop) had three or four. But the kids supported him and picked him up. That’s what you like to see as a team.”
In the first inning against Waiakea, KS-Maui played aggressive small-ball, getting starter Nakamura into the stretch early, and it paid off with a timely basehit and a couple of Waiakea breakdowns.
Ekolu Watanabe led off with a single. The next hitter put down a first-pitch sacrifice bunt, and Rylie Velez followed with an RBI single.
Then Nakamura had an errant pickoff attempt, and later catcher Mackanzy Maesaka’s throw on a steal attempt sailed into center field for another error. Velez, at third, easily scored for a 2-0 lead.
Waiakea had a nice setup in the bottom of the first when Nate Minami singled, stole second and
right-handed starter Kulana Wilhelm was forced to pitch from the stretch, where he struggled.
Trayden Tamiya and Anthony Benevides belted consecutive singles, and Makoa Andres followed with an RBI single through the shortstop’s hole. Nakamura earned himself a bit of redemption with a sacrifice fly for a 2-2 tie.
KS-Maui picked up a run in the second when its first batter walked and later scored on an error, and the bottom of the inning was the only messy time for the visitors from the Valley Isle with two errors, four walks, a hit by pitch and just one hit allowed.
Gehrig Octavio led off with a walk and later scored. Benevides also walked and scored. Andres was hit by a pitch for a base-loaded RBI and also scored. Against reliever, Ekolu Watanabe, Jaron Kawaguchi walked with the bases full for an RBI. That merry-go-round produced four runs.
The Valley Isle Warriors tacked on two runs in the third inning on one hit and the help of two more Waiakea errors, the third straight frame with two miscues.
The BIIF Warriors led 6-5 through three innings. But with a combined eight errors and tons of extra outs and pitches the game felt like was in the ninth inning. High school baseball is seven innings. The semifinal lasted nearly three hours.
The fourth was a milestone inning for Waiakea, which didn’t commit an error, and Nakamura retired the side for the first time, getting his lone trouble-free frame.
Nakamura, a sophomore left-hander, pitched four innings for the win, threw 75 pitches and gave up five runs but only one earned. He allowed three hits and two walks and struck out four, recording an out after the second error through the first three innings.
Then a funny thing happened. The scoring dried up, and Waiakea had only a harmless error in the sixth inning to finish with seven.
Bryce Yamashita, a senior right-hander, pitched three scoreless innings for the save. His best play was pickoff after a one-out walk to No. 3 hitter Rylie Velez, who went 2 for 2, in the seventh inning.
Wilhelm took the loss in 1 2/3 innings. Nevon Watanabe pitched 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief, and Ekolu Watanabe, a southpaw and the hardest thrower of the five pitchers, fired two innings and whiffed six.
Tamiya batted 2 for 2 and Andres had two RBIs to lead Waiakea.
“That lefty was tough and that’s the type of people we’ll see if we want to make it to states,” Inouye said. “That kid had great stuff. Besides that lefty, we put balls in play. That’s what we tell the kids, to put the ball in play and put the pressure on.”
One key Waiakea player missing is senior pitcher/shortstop Caleb Freitas-Fields, an All-BIIF pick the last two years.
“He decided not to play this year,” Inouye said. “He’s a kid with talent, but as a team we have to move forward.”
The Warriors landed a nice addition with the transfer of sophomore lefty pitcher Reese Mondina, the younger brother of senior shortstop Taylor Mondina, who didn’t play on Friday.
Waiakea has a deep roster with 24 players and most of the jobs are secured. There’s sophomore Tamiya at second, senior Mondina at shortstop, Andres at third, Minami, Gehrig Octavio and Guy Yokoe, the BIIF and state air riflery state champion, in the outfield and junior Benevides at DH.
The only open positions are at first base and catcher, where Inouye’s brother Curren is a candidate. The junior Warrior batted 0 for 1, but his older brother isn’t the sole decision-maker for deciding who starts.
Inouye, the second-year coach, noted assistant and catching coach Dana Yamashita will also weigh in for the starting backstop position.
“The kids understand their roles. Some will run, some will pinch hit and some will get in if there’s an injury,” Inouye said. “The kids seem to buy into the team concept. We have 24. That’s a lot of kids, but the attitude has been good at practice, and they come in ready to work.”
Costales honoree
Wayne Yamauchi, a longtime volunteer with over 40 years of service and a public address announcer, was selected as the Stanley Costales Sportsman of the Year. Yamauchi is a 1971 Hilo High graduate.
In 1976, he started coaching youth leagues in Little League and PONY, Piopio Bears, Boys and Girls Club, Andrews Athletic Association and RBI baseball.
Yamauchi has been the administrator for the Nobu Yamauchi RBI organization since 2002 and the league coordinator for Hilo PONY baseball since 1999.
He is the son of Nobu and Elsie Yamauchi, who were both active in the sports community. His wife Agnes Yamauchi is also a longtime volunteer and keeps the stat books for both the Hilo and Waiakea boys basketball teams.
As a Viking, Yamauchi was an All-BIIF first team and HHSAA all-state first baseman, and an All-BIIF football offensive tackle. He graduated with a physical education degree from Pacific University, where he played baseball all four years.
Yamauchi worked for the Department of Education since 1977, including the last 28 years at Waiakea High, and recently retired. During that span, he coached baseball, football, basketball, and golf.
After the Waiakea-Kamehameha Maui game, Yamauchi had to get home for some sleep because he had another youth baseball team to coach in the morning.
KS-Maui 212 000 0 — 5 4 2
Waiakea 240 000 x — 6 5 7