WAIMEA — Hilo High School’s varsity baseball team ended its regular season with a 12-2 win at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy on Monday afternoon.
The five-inning affair saw HHS senior Devin Saltiban hit his second homer since Saturday — a center-field fly ball for two runs in the top second.
In the top first, Ka Makani prevented serious damage by allowing just one run and stranding two batters. Kameron Agpalza singled on a grounder to left field, then two infield errors let Makenna Wakakuwa and Saltiban load the bases. A lineout to third-baseman Matty Inaba kept the runners in place, then Legend Lancaster hit a sacrifice fly to bat in Agpalza. The frame ended with a groundout thrown to first-baseman Nainoa Hummel by Inaba.
Agpalza started on the mound for Hilo and helped down HPA in three batters. The leadoff grounded out after Lancaster passed from second base to first-baseman Dylan Villanueva, then Agpalza punched out the two-hole and fanned the three-hole.
The Vikings drove in four runs in the top second. Koa Marzo led off with a double, then courtesy runner Jayden Soriano took his place. The next batter flew out, then Soriano reached third on a wild pitch before Jayden Geraci walked. Agpalza hit a sacrifice fly to bat in Soriano, then Wakakuwa singled to send Garace home. Wakakuwa was moved to second by a balk, then Saltiban homered on the first pitch to up Hilo’s lead to 5-0.
Ka Makani was unable to respond in the bottom frame — as Agapalza struck out the leadoff looking, the two-hole lined out to second base and the three-hole went down swinging.
With one out on the board in the top third — the Vikings loaded the bases with a single, a hit-by-pitch and a walk. Soriano grounded infield, and a fielder’s choice put out a runner short of second as Blaze Kipilii reached the plate and Zion Palea took advantage of an error to score.
HPA finally put up a run in the bottom third. Ed Lustik rounded first and reached second on an error, advanced on Hudson Mangold’s single and was batted in by Griff Hemerick’s single.
In the top fourth, Saltiban led off — reaching on an error. He advanced on a balk, then reached third on a groundout. Saltiban scored as the next batter also grounded out. Braycen Furuli walked and Marzo singled. An error occurred when the pitcher attempted to catch Furuli stealing third, which allowed Furuli to score.
Hilo shut out Ka Makani again in the bottom frame. Marzo struck out two straight batters, then the third popped out.
The Vikings scored three more runs in the top fifth to boost their lead to 12-1. Wakakuwa led off with a single, followed by Keean Ogawa reaching on an error. Journey Leialoha doubled to bat Wakakuwa in, then Ogawa scored as the following batter grounded out. Two at-bat’s later, Leialoha scored on a wild pitch.
The bottom fifth saw HPA squeeze in one more run, as Mangold hit a sacrifice fly to bat in Miron Amani.
Marzo went three-for-four to lead Hilo at bat, while Saltiban led in scoring — going one-for-three to score two runs and bat two in.
Hemerick went one-for-two with a walk, batting in one for Ka Makani.
Agpalza and Marzo each pitched two innings for the Vikings. Agpalza allowed no hits or walks and struck out four of six batters faced. Marzo allowed no earned runs on two hits, striking out three of nine batters. Freshman Noah Freeman pitched two-thirds of an inning an allowed one earned run on two hits and two walks. Saltiban relieved him and struck out a batter to end the game.
Now 10-0, Hilo awaits its near-guaranteed No.1 seeding in next week’s BIIF Division I playoffs.
HPA stands outside of the Division II playoff bubble at No.5. With two non-division games remaining — against Kea‘au and Kealakehe — Ka Makani could potentially obtain a playoff spot if it beats both.
