Waiakea jumped on the strengths of its pitching and defense to ride into the HHSAA Division I championship, but both were nowhere to be found against Baldwin at Les Murakami Stadium, where the Maui Interscholastic League has now captured the last three state titles.
On Friday night, in an all-neighbor island finale, the Bears capitalized on five errors to thump the Warriors 14-4 in a five-inning TKO, relegating Waiakea to a second straight runner-up finish to a team from the Valley Isle, where the island’s slogan, “Maui no ka oi” rings true.
The MIL has been the best the last three years. Last season, Maui High defeated Waiakea 6-1 for the state crown. In 2016, the Bears toppled Pearl City 5-1 for the state championship, their first since 1995.
The Bears (16-1) faced five Waiakea pitchers and scored five runs on free passes (four walks, one hit batter) and five unearned runs. Senior left-hander Reese Mondina was the most successful but had control issues. In two innings, he allowed one hit but walked three in a no-decision.
Baldwin starter Roy Meinen put up ugly numbers in the win: 4 1/3 innings, four runs on five hits and three walks and three strikeouts. Chayse Akaka recorded two outs to shut the door.
But the Bears took healthy cuts and swung potent bats against the contact-pitching Waiakea bullpen arms. Haku Dudoit went 2 for 3 with three RBIs, Kevin Varner was 2 for 3 with three RBIs, and Nainoa Keahi had three RBIs.
Kalai Rosario batted 2 for 3 with three RBIs, Casey Yamauchi went 2 for 3, and Stone Miyao was 1 for 3 with an RBI for the Waiakea, which couldn’t figure out the soft-tossing Meinen, who got his secondary pitches over for strikes.
The Warriors (17-1) got off to a good start. All season, coach Rory Inouye talked about getting runners on and putting pressure on the defense as the team’s offensive identity. It worked to perfection in the first inning against Meinen.
Yamauchi hit a chopper to third base that he beat out for a single. Trayden Tamiya dropped a bunt that catcher Cade Kalehuawehe airmailed beyond first base, which scored Yamauchi.
David Nakamura walked, and cleanup hitter Rosario ripped a fat pitch that covered too much of the plate for a 2-0 lead that could have easily been bigger. But Meinen got a strikeout and two flyouts.
In the bottom of the second, a mental mistake dearly cost the Bears, who loaded the bases with two walks and a bunt single. Bobby Drayer hit a comeback to Mondina, who threw home for the first out.
Catcher Jacob Igawa threw to first and hit Drayer, who was called out for running outside of the first-base runner’s box. Mondina struck out No. 9 hitter Jacob Chong to escape a no-out, bases-loaded pickle.
From the start, Mondina just couldn’t find his release point. He went to three-ball counts on Baldwin’s first six hitters. And his lack of command caught up to him in the third inning, when Waiakea’s defense — one of the team’s strengths — unraveled with three errors, which led to four unearned runs.
Mondina started with a 2-0 count to leadoff hitter Akaka and was pulled for junior right-hander Ty Honda, who doesn’t throw hard like most of the bullpen arms, which meant the Bears weren’t overpowered, got comfortable at the plate and often hit the ball.
Akaka walked, and Dudoit reached on third baseman Stone Miyao’s three-base throwing error, which scored Akaka. Honda then recorded groundouts before Varner reached on shortstop Tamiya’s throwing error.
Dudoit scored on the play for a 3-2 lead. Haole singled, and Anthony Hoopii-Tuinoetoa reached on another Tamiya error, which scored the fourth unearned run.
In the bottom of the third, Safea Villaruz-Mauai walked with two outs, and Miyao followed with a run-scoring double to cut Baldwin’s lead to 4-3.
With one out in the fourth, Honda walked the next two Bears, Kalehuawehe followed with a single, Keahi with a sacrifice fly and Varner with an RBI single for a 7-3 cushion.
Honda pitched 1 2/3 innings in the loss and allowed seven runs (four unearned) on four hits and three walks, all of which scored. Rysen Ross recorded an out and allowed two runs, and Cody Min didn’t record an out and gave up five runs. Devin Midel pitched a scoreless inning.
The easy and completely wrong analysis is to compare the Waiakea-Baldwin championship to the one in 2012 when the Warriors beat the Bears 5-2 for the school’s first state crown.
In that title game, Quintin Torres-Costa (six innings) and Kodi Medeiros (one inning) combined on a no-hitter. They each threw complete games in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Both pitched the final night on limited rest, which would not be allowed under the National Federation of State High School Associations pitch count rule, implemented last year.
The strategy now involves pitchers who can throw strikes (so bullpens don’t get taxed), solid defenses (so extra pitches aren’t thrown), and a deep arsenal of arms or pitchers who can go the distance.
Senior left-handed ace Nakamura and junior right-hander Cody Hirata preserved the bullpen with complete-game gems against Campbell, 6-2, and Kailua, 5-0, respectively. Both taxed out and weren’t available for the championship, but it was the same deal with Baldwin.
Haole and Hoopii-Tuinoetoa earned victories over Punahou, 8-7, and Iolani, 9-4, with five-inning efforts that also knocked them out for the finale. Both teams used their top arms to reach a title rematch. Both pitching staffs recorded three strikeouts each, so a lot of balls were in play.
But the Bears had the bigger bats, and, more importantly, better pitching and defense on championship night.
Baldwin 004 37 — 14 9 1
Waiakea 201 01 — 4 5 5
