As he got set to square off against one of the island’s most potent lineups in Kamehameha, Honokaa coach Lane Yanagisawa saw Jonathan Charbonneau take a “game-ready” approach to his pitching.
Charbonneau only got better from there in delivering the BIIF baseball upset of the season.
The senior right-hander struck out six in a complete game Monday and the Dragons handed the Warriors their first loss with a 4-3 victory at Honokaa complex.
“I knew we could do it,” Yanagisawa said, “but I think the boys had to prove it to themselves.”
Honokaa (6-5) bunched together four hits in the third inning to score three runs, and Charbonneau protected a one-run lead over the last three innings, allowing seven hits – including a home run by Kegan Miura to lead off the game – and two walks.
“I could tell he was ready and he took it with him to the mound,” Yanagisawa said. “All his pitches were working and the defense helped him big-time.”
With runners on second and third in the fifth, Charbonneau got of strikeout to end the inning, and he went on to retire the last seven batters he faced.
“His awareness of the strike zone got better,” Yanagisawa said. “I think him being a senior and having faced these guys before helped.”
Kamehameha won the team’s previous meeting 12-0 on March 19 in Keaau, with Charbonneau lasting just two innings.
On Monday, he tied the game 1-1 in the first with a single to score Caden Perreira, who had walked.
Miura walked to lead off the third and scored on a single by Makana Aiona, but Honokaa took the lead for good in the bottom half of the inning as the top four hitters in the lineup, Nainoa Falk, Paki Akau, Caden Perreira and Canen Perreira, all singled against Brandyn Lee-Lehano. Falk finished with three hits and Canen Perreira collected two.
Kyran Kai led off the fifth with a double for the Warriors (7-1) and scored on an error, but Charbonneau got out of a jam by inducing a 6-4-3 double play, and Aiona’s single an inning later was Kamehameha’s last hit. Aiona and Kai each were 2 for 3.
Lee-Lehano pitched three innings, yielding eight hits, four runs and two walks with four strikeouts, and Tai Atkins worked three scoreless innings.
Honokaa was playing its fourth game in six days, including a 10-1 loss Saturday at Hilo.
“We took a beating,” Yanagisawa said. “It was nice to come back strong.”
Kamehameha 101 100 0 – 3 7 1
Honokaa 103 000 x – 4 9 2
