Waiakea was burning through pitchers, desperately searching for someone who could throw strikes and save the day and up stepped Casey Yamauchi to the mound. ADVERTISING Waiakea was burning through pitchers, desperately searching for someone who could throw strikes and
Waiakea was burning through pitchers, desperately searching for someone who could throw strikes and save the day and up stepped Casey Yamauchi to the mound.
Yamauchi recorded the final three outs, and the Warriors prevailed over Hilo 7-6 in the championship of the 24th annual Stanley Costales Sr. Memorial Baseball Tournament on Saturday at Wong Stadium.
In other games, Kamehameha blanked Kealakehe 18-0 for third place; Konawaena and Waipahu tied 6-6 in a time-limit game for fifth; and Leilehua shut out Hawaii Prep 8-0 for the consolation title.
The Warriors entered the bottom of the seventh with a 7-3 lead that looked pretty secure, but looks can be deceiving.
Nathan Yoshida walked the first two batters and was pulled for Devin Midel, who gave up an RBI single to Ryan Ragual and hit Nick Anthony.
Then Yamauchi came in as Waiakea’s fifth pitcher. He got Chase Costa-Ishii on a sacrifice RBI flyout, walked Donald Saltiban Jr., and gave up another sac RBI flyout to Maui Ahuna that cut the lead to 7-6.
With two on and two out, Yamauchi closed the door with another flyout, picking the save and the tournament’s MVP award. He also earned a win in his other pitching appearance.
Ragual was the tournament batting champion with a .750 (6 of 8) average. Costa-Ishii, who had two RBIs against Waiakea, was the RBI champion with six.
The three-day tourney marked the debut of the mandatory pitch count under the National Federation of State High School Associations, which implemented the ruling last July.
It didn’t really have an effect on pitchers throwing more strikes, at least in the championship.
Five Waiakea pitchers combined for nine walks and three runs scored off free passes. Three Hilo pitchers combined for seven walks and two runs scored off those gifts.
Waiakea starting pitcher Khaden Victorino, a sophomore left-hander, had an adventurous first inning, walking the first three batters. He picked off one runner, and catcher Costa-Ishii gunned down another on a steal attempt.
Victorino pitched five scoreless innings, allowed two hits and five walks and struck out three for the win. He threw 70 pitches that put him in the 61-85 pitch range requiring two days of rest.
Joey Jarneski, the No. 3 hitter, also walked and stole second but was stranded when Victorino recorded a strikeout to end the inning on his 21st pitch.
In the second, the Warriors scored four runs, including two unearned, on two hits and two errors off Hilo starting pitcher Ocean Gabonia, a sophomore right-hander, who got tagged with the loss.
Cleanup hitter David Nakamura walked, Jacob Igawa singled, and Gehrig Octavio followed with a two-run single. Devon Hirata reached on an infield error, which scored Octavio. Then Hirata took a journey around the bases to score.
Hirata went to second on a passed ball, to third on a wild pitch and scored when leadoff batter Yamauchi reached on another infield error for a 4-0 lead. Gabonia finished the inning with 26 pitches.
He pitched a scoreless inning in the fourth and his day was done. Gabonia threw 46 pitches, which fell into the 36-60 pitch range requiring one day of rest. In three innings, he allowed four runs (two unearned) on four hits and two walks.
In the bottom of the fourth, Hilo drew walks and had runners in scoring position but couldn’t score. Victorino escaped with two infield flyouts.
Waiakea made it 5-0 when Nate Minami had an RBI single in the fifth off reliever Braden Silva, who went two innings.
In the sixth, the Vikings scored three runs on three hits and two errors off reliever Rysen Ross, who faced seven batters and got two outs. Anthony had an RBI single and Saltiban an RBI bunt. Waiakea junior right-hander Yoshida closed the inning with a strikeout.
The Warriors padded their lead to 7-3 in the bottom of the seventh on one hit, three walks, including a pair with the bases loaded, and one error. Octavio and Curran Inouye had bases-loaded RBI walks off Ragual, who pitched two innings.
Waiakea 040 010 2 — 7 7 1
Hilo 000 003 3 — 6 6 3
