Early season BIIF baseball and softball continued to unfold last weekend and this week, as Pahoa High and Kealakehe high clashed on Tuesday in Hilo and Hilo High’s teams took a trip to Pahala on Saturday.
Baseball
PAHOA 4 – KEALAKEHE 3
A big top third inning gave the Daggers the boost they needed to outlast Kealakehe, as Pahoa downed the ‘Riders Tuesday evening at Walter Victor Baseball Complex.
Pahoa is now 1-1, but still hasn’t played a Division II outing. A game scheduled for March 2 against Konawaena was postponed, so the Daggers first division play matchup will be Saturday afternoon at Honoka‘a High (0-1).
Kealakehe’s two-win streak came to an end as the ‘Riders sank to 2-2. Their next outing will be March 20 at home against Konawaena.
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HILO 11 – KA‘U 1
Hilo dealt Ka‘u its first loss, 11-1, in a five-inning affair.
Now 2-0, the Vikings will be back in action at 3 p.m. today in their first home game, against Kohala High at Wong Stadium.
Hilo will kick off Division I action next week with two home games — against Kea‘au High on Wednesday (March 20) and versus Kealakehe High on Saturday (March 23).
At 2-1, the Trojans will look to get back on a roll — also facing Kohala in their next matchup, Tuesday (March 19) in Kapa‘au. Ka‘u will play two more road games — at KS-Hawai‘i on March 26 and at Kealakehe on April 3 — returning to Pahala on April 10 to face Pahoa High.
Softball
KEALAKEHE 19 – PAHOA 0
The Waveriders crushed the Daggers in a four-inning TKO on Tuesday.
Kealakehe’s Emailia Emmsley nearly pitched a perfect four innings, surrendering no hits and just one walk with nine strikeouts.
Kealakehe came out firing in the top first inning, plating five runs.
Pahoa wasn’t able to get much going in the bottom frame, returning to the field after three at-bats as two batters struck out and a runner was caught stealing.
The ‘Riders piled it on even harder with ten runs in the second inning. The Daggers again went down in three straight batters in the bottom second, but pulled off a double play in the top third to keep Kealakehe from adding any runs and leave two on base.
Emmsley struck out three straight batters in the bottom third. The ‘Riders plated four more runs in the top fourth, then downed the Daggers with one left on base in the bottom frame — after which the game was called.
Zuleika Isisaki went two-for-two and batted in a run to lead Kealakehe at the plate. Kayleigh Nakamura went two-for-three with a walk and a RBI — and Rihanna Joaquin went one-for-two with a walk and two RBIs. Nakamura, Joaquin and Malia Polimino each tripled.
Now on a 3-0 roll, the ‘Riders will next look to cross off their cross-Kona rival, Konawaena (0-1), next week at home.
Pahoa entered a two-game skid, falling to 1-2. However, both of the Daggers’ losses have been to Division I teams, and they are still 1-0 in DII play.
They will get back into division action on Saturday morning in a road test at Honoka‘a High (0-1) for the Dragons’ first DII matchup.
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HILO 20 – KA‘U 1
The Vikings kicked off their season with a four-inning, 20-1 rout of Ka‘u.
Hilo moved to 2-0 in BIIF play, but has yet to play its first BIIF Division I outing. The Vikings’ next matchup is scheduled for 1 p.m. today at Walter Victor park against Division II’s Kohala High (1-1). Their first DI test is slaed for March 20 at home against Kea‘au High (1-1).
The Trojans fell to 0-3, but have also not yet entered division play. In addition to Hilo, Ka‘u’s losses came by way of Kea‘au and Waiakea High.
With three tough opponents faced and more than two weeks until their next outing and first DII test, the Trojans are well-poised to hit the ground running in DII play. Ka‘u will start with a March 26 road test against KS-Hawai‘i.
After facing their last DI opponent, Kealakehe, on April 3 — the Trojans will play four straight DII matchups to round off the season, the last three of which will be played in Pahala.