KEA‘AU — The Kamehameha Schools – Hawai‘i baseball team defeated Konawaena High 6-1 in the leeward side’s first regular season BIIF DII matchup on Wednesday.
The Warriors kept the Wildcats off the board in the top of the first inning. After Kona’s leadoff walked, the two-spot grounded out on an attempted bunt and the leadoff was tagged out short of second. The three-spot grounded out to send KSH into the dugout.
KS-Hawai‘i notched two runs in the bottom first. Kaohu Kawelu reached first base thanks to an infield error, and Dominic Christensen was hit by a pitch. With two outs on the board, Noah Palea batted both of them in on a ground single to center field.
A flyout and two groundouts in consecutive order sent Konawaena back on the field with no hits in two innings — during which Kekama Robello was on the mound for the Warriors.
KSH came back out and scored a third run. Keegan Pacheco got things started with a single, then Elijah Okano singled. With two outs, Kawelu doubled on a deep fly ball to left field, batting in Pacheco.
No more runs were scored until the bottom fifth. After a groundout, Kamaka Ili walked and Pacheco singled, then Braden Gomes walked to load the bases. In straight at-bats, Okano sac-bunted to send Ili home, Justin Kubojiri singled to bat in Pacheco and Kawelu singled to bat in Gomes.
Kawelu went two-for-four with two RBIs, and Ili went two-for-three with a walk and no RBIs — also recording a game-high on-base percentage of .750.
Kolt Baptista went one-for-two with a RBI to lead Kona at the plate.
Robello was credited with the win on the mound. Keyan Kanehele spent the most time on the mound for the Warriors — 4.67 innings, during which he faced 18 batters, struck out five and surrendered five hits, but gave up no walks or runs. Shiloh Santos closed out the last third of an inning for KSH.
Konawaena’s Kahiau Riviera took the loss on the mound — surrendering 10 hits, three walks and four earned runs in 4.67 innings. Koa Nakagawa closed out the last 1.33 innings, giving up a hit and no walks or runs.
BIIF baseball action will continue this week, with KS-Hawai‘i scrimmaging Waipahu High in a doubleheader on Saturday at Waiakea High. Waiakea will play Waipahu earlier in the day.
KSH’s softball game against Konawaena, which was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, has been rescheduled to April 9.
Baseball and softball will come into full swing within the next two weeks.