Malu Gacusana and some of his teammates looked out of sorts, according to their coach, and even as Hilo Royal rallied back their base running looked out of whack.
Malu Gacusana and some of his teammates looked out of sorts, according to their coach, and even as Hilo Royal rallied back their base running looked out of whack.
It’s a good thing the Bronco All-Star team had nine full innings to figure matters out.
Gacusana drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, his second clutch hit Saturday against West Hawaii, to send Hilo to a 7-6 comeback victory in the PONY League sectionals at Walter Victor Complex.
“Malu, something wasn’t right for him in the first inning, but he got it done when he needed to,” coach Ronald Auwae said. “We were pressing, but we came through.”
Gacusana’s hit scored Kekoa Ogawa, who had doubled, making a winner of Maka Auwae, who wiggled out of a jam to preserve a tie in the top half of the inning.
Royal, Hilo’s first-team all-stars, will take on ever-busy West Hawaii again at 9 a.m. Sunday for the section title and the first of two berths in the state tournament for ages 11-12, which will be held on Kauai. An all-star team from Hilo has brought home the past three state titles.
West Hawaii’s players – most come from Lil Soljahs – were the true workhorses of the day. While Hilo got a bye as the host and played only once, West Hawaii took the field three times, sandwiching its loss in between two victories (14-9 and 10-7) against Hilo Blue (second-team all-stars).
“Kona is good team,” Ronald Auwae said. “I knew what we were up against.”
With Taven Hiraishi on the mound in the bottom of the seventh trying to protect a one-run lead, Ogawa ripped a ball to deep right field, but he was thrown out trying to extend the hit into a triple.
Hilo was down to its last out, but Gacusana doubled to the gap in right-center. Hiraishi induced a potential game-ending grounder, but it was misplayed and Gacusana scooted home from second, just beating the tag to tie the game.
Hilo lost its leadoff runner in the eighth to a caught stealing, eventually stranding two base runners.
“On the base paths, we were just trying to be too aggressive,” Auwae said.
Maka Auwae played damage control in the top of the ninth. James Kapela led off with a double and made his way to third. After Auwae struck out two batters, West Hawaii tried to manufacture a run, but Kapela was caught stealing home.
“They showed heart and they kept playing,” Ronald Auwae said. “We kept making outs, but eventually we put hits together.”
The loser of Sunday morning’s rematch will face Hilo Blue at 11:30 a.m. for the second state berth.
In the Mustangs (ages 9-10) sectional, the Hilo All-Stars made quick work of two opponents in TKOs.
Kaohu Kawelu compiled three hits in a 12-2 victory against Keaukaha, and he slammed a two-run home run to power a 15-1 victory against Kona, finishing 3 for 3, including two doubles, with four RBIs.
Isaiah Calma hit a three-run home run and Mike Mitsuda struck out three in two hitless inning as Hilo advanced into Sunday’s 11:30 a.m. title game. There is only one state Mustang berth available.
Earlier, Kona beat West Hawaii 19-11, while Keaukaha eliminated West Hawaii with a 14-4 victory. Kona and Keaukaha (Hilo’s second-team all-stars) will face each other at 9 a.m. Sunday, and the winner gets Hilo.
Most of Hilo’s players were on the Andrews Braves team that two weekends ago won the PONY Memorial Day Baseball Tournament.
“We did our job (Saturday),” Hilo coach Duke Waiki said. “We stress hitting a lot and making contact. We work a lot on two-strike hitting.”