Hilo’s most dangerous weapon wasn’t its bats on Wednesday against Kealakehe. No, instead it was the Vikings eyes that did the damage.
Hilo (1-1) capitalized on 10 walks, three hit batters and four Waverider (1-2) errors to come away with a convincing 11-1 victory in a run-rule shortened 5-inning victory on a soggy afternoon in Kona.
It was a nice bounce back for the Viks against a Division I foe after dropping its opener to Waiakea 8-2 last week.
Logan Wilson recorded the win on the mound for Hilo, going 2 2/3 innings. He allowed two hits with a walk and a strikeout. Micah Freeman, Hekili Robello and Sabu Kahee split the final seven outs.
After two innings, Hilo led 10-0 despite registering just two hits.
Titus Sato knocked in a pair of runs for the Viks on a hard-hit single in the third inning and Jayger Ganigan hit the longest ball of the day on a double to right field in the fifth.
Trent Kepano took the loss for Kealakehe, lasting 1 2/3 innings.
Kealakehe managed to make some solid contact on a lot of balls, but were not able to find any openings.
Kainoa Jones was 2-for-2 and provided the highlight of the afternoon for the ‘Riders, breaking the shutout with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Offense has been hard to come by for Kealakehe since edging Keaau 7-6 in its opener. The Waveriders were shutout over the weekend against Konawaena and Jones’ hit broke a 13-inning scoring drought.
Next up for Hilo is a home contest against Hawaii Prep on Monday. Kealakehe has nearly a week off before heading to Waimea to face Ka Makani on March 13.
Hawaii Prep wins in walk-off fashion 3-2 over Konawaena
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Skyler Roque-Sunahara stepped to the plate and nailed a single to left field, driving in Todd Hill and giving Ka Makani a 3-2 walk-off victory over Konawaena in Waimea.
Hill walked to lead off the final inning and a sacrifice bunt by Michael Hughes moved him into scoring position. Roque-Sunahara did the rest with his second and most important hit of the day.
Hughes earned the win on the mound. He went two innings, allowing two hits and no runs while striking out three. He did not issue a walk.
Boaz Ayers took the loss for Konawaena. He lasted one and two-thirds innings, allowing one hit and one run while striking out two. Jaimison Medeiros started the game for the Wildcats. He surrendered two runs on three hits over five innings, striking out four.
Despite the loss, it was the second consecutive strong outing for Medeiros in as many starts. Over the weekend he notched a complete game shutout against Kealakehe, striking out 10.
Kanai Rivera went 2-for-3 at the plate to lead Konawaena, including a double in the fifth inning — the Wildcats’ only extra base hit of the game.
Todd Hill was 1-of-2 with a hit and a pair of walks, scoring twice for Hawaii Prep.
Kamehameha 16, Ka’u 1: Zakaia Michaels struck out seven in three innings of one-hit ball and delivered two hits, including a double, and scored two runs in Keaau as Kamehameha improved to 4-0.
Kamehameha needed just seven hits to score seven runs in the first and nine in the third, taking advantage of seven walks and four errors. Kaizen Kapuni-Lankford, Skyler Paulo and Keahi Hisashima each pinch-hit in the third and singled to drive in two runs.
Salvatore Martino pitched the fourth against the Trojans (0-4), striking out two and allowing a run.