Hilo senior ace Joey Jarneski deserved a much better fate, pitching good enough to win, but his defense had a bad day at the office, and he took a tough loss.
Jarneski pitched four innings and didn’t surrender an earned run, but Waiakea beat the Vikings 9-3 in a BIIF Division I baseball game Wednesday at Wong Stadium, where a few scouts were in attendance.
Hilo’s defense committed six errors, including four by its third baseman, which led to eight unearned runs.
“The boys played great,” Waiakea coach Rory Inouye said. “They executed offensively and kept putting on pressure.”
Jarneski’s fastball averaged 86 to 87 mph, and he topped out at 91 mph. He gave up seven hits and no walks and struck out one, which was a pitching highlight. He finished with 80 pitches, including 16 because of extra outs with the errors.
In the second, Waiakea designated hitter Makoa Andres, the No. 7 hitter, worked the count to 3-1. Despite a hitter’s count, Jarneski put extra mustard on his fastball for a swinging strike, then got the strikeout with a sharp slider.
His counterpart, junior left-hander David Nakamura, doesn’t throw as hard as Jarneski and didn’t have his best stuff. But Nakamura is developing a reputation as a big-game escape artist.
“I wasn’t comfortable with my cutter and didn’t throw it,” he said. “My two-seam fastball was working nice, and I threw my changeup. That’s a pitch I’m trying to develop, and I threw my curveball only once.”
Last season in Game 2 of the BIIF championship series, Nakamura pitched five innings for a 4-1 win over Hilo despite five walks. He had two bases-loaded pickles and surrendered only a single run.
Less than a year later, Nakamura pitched five innings for the win and again walked five. He stranded eight on bases, including the bases loaded in the third. He gave up three runs and six hits and whiffed two.
Andres pitched the final two innings. He allowed a hit and two walks and struck out three. He, too, didn’t have full command of his pitches. But, like Nakamura, the senior right-hander adjusted and got the job done.
The Vikings (5-1) drew seven walks but could only score one run off a Nakamura free pass. They left 11 runners on base and pulled their cleanup hitter, Ryan Ragual, with two on in the fourth. A run scored on a wild pitch, and pinch hitter Maui Ahuna lined out to shortstop.
Ragual took over in relief in the top of the fifth. He threw three innings and allowed three runs (two unearned) on four hits.
In the first inning, Waiakea leadoff hitter Casey Yamauchi reached on an infield single and later scored when Hilo’s third baseman dropped a throw at third.
The third inning was rough for the Vikings, whose third baseman committed two more errors, both after two out. One throwing error produced two runs, another error let in another run, and Gehrig Octavio and Andres had RBI singles.
Meanwhile, the Warriors had no errors, and Nakamura made sure to credit his defense, which featured sound fielding from shortstop Trayden Tamiya, who made every dangerous out look routine.
“I had three strikeouts, and most of the outs were by the defense,” Nakamura said. “I trusted my defense and knew they had my back.”
Hilo’s loudest at-bat was in the first when Nick Antony hammered a two-run double to the right-center field wall. In the fourth, Stone Miyao singled and later scored on a wild pitch.
Miyao went 2 for 3 with an RBI, Antony 1 for 2 with two RBIs and two walks, and Chase Costa Ishii batted 1 for 1 with three walks.
Yamauchi batted 3 for 5 with an RBI, Jacob Igawa 2 for 3 with an RBI, and Andres 2 for 4 with an RBI to lead the Warriors (4-0), who stranded seven on base and struck out just once.
It’s no surprise that Waiakea took well-disciplined at-bats. It’s part of the team’s approach. And it works even against hard throwers.
“All year, we tell the boys to pick your pitch and take a good swing,” Inouye said. “When you get two strikes, then you adjust.
“We always have room to improve. We had seven walks (Hilo’s pitchers walked none). With the middle of the season and the playoffs coming, that’s something we have to work on.”
That’s sort of Inouye’s mantra: keep sharpening things at practice and bring it to games. But he shouldn’t get nervous when Nakamura is on the mound and doesn’t have his best stuff.
If Nakamura walks hitters and runs into trouble, he makes clutch pitches, records momentum-shifting outs and continues to cement his status as Waiakea’s best escape artist.
Waiakea 105 011 1 — 9 11 0
Hilo 200 100 0 — 3 7 6
