The Big Island Interscholastic Federation (BIIF) spring sports season continued Thursday with baseball, volleyball and flag football matchups. Games continue through today; see Monday’s paper for updates.
Warriors surge in extras
Kamehameha-Hawai‘i baseball scored four runs in the 11th inning to break through in Thursday’s thriller in Kea‘au, winning 7-3 to notch its fifth win of 2025.
The visiting Wildcats tied the game up 3-3 in the seventh inning after Aycen Blanco singled and teammate Kawika Fukunaga smacked a sacrifice fly.
After three more scoreless innings, the winning Warriors finally found some life in the 11th. Kamaka Ili secured a sacrifice fly, which scored a run. Kaikoa Norbriga then hit a two-run triple, followed by Justin Kubojiri grounding out — which brought in another run to seal the deal.
KSH secured 10 hits to Kona’s seven, led by Noah Palea with a game-high three hits. Kubojiri, Ili, Nobriga, Keagan Pacheco, Iokepa Martines, Dayton Hanson and Brock Ayudan made up for the rest of the offense with one hit each.
The Warriors went through four pitchers across the afternoon, but Braden Gomes was awarded the game’s winning pitcher — lasting 5.0 innings, allowing one hit while striking out five. Shiloh Santos, Keyan Kanahele and Hunter Yamamoto also saw brief time on the mound.
Armenio Blanco and Hayden Nishida led the Wildcats with two hits apiece, including a triple from Nishida in the bottom of the fourth. Teammates Kolt Baptista, Tate Garana and Aycen Blanco made up the rest of the green and white’s base hits.
Kahiau Rivera was Kona’s primary pitcher — lasting 6.6 innings, allowing seven hits and six runs while striking out three. Koa Nakagawa and Stephen Amafala Marquard also pitched for the Wildcats.
Now at 5-0-1 on the season, KSH has out-scored opponents 51-7. The Warriors will next play Waiakea on Monday afternoon in Hilo town. The game will be a rematch of Monday’s matchup, in which the two teams tied in Kea‘au.
Kona (3-3) won’t play until April 5 against Kea‘au in Kealakekua.
Vikings, Trojans win on road
Hilo boys volleyball kept on rolling during Thursday night’s match against the Cougars in Kea‘au Village, routing the hosts in straight sets. With the decisive victory, the Vikings elevated themselves to 7-0 at the midway point of 2025.
Hilo won by set scores of 25-9, 25-15 and 25-15. It was the second time the Vikings beat the Cougars this season — also sweeping them on Feb. 20.
The Vikings have swept their opponents four different times this season. They’ll look to remain unbeaten with their match against Christian Liberty Academy at 10 a.m. in Kea‘au.
The Cougars fell to 1-6 after securing their first win of the season last weekend against Connections. They’ll also be back on the court today, set to face Ka‘u at 5 p.m. in Pahala. The junior varsity squads will play first.
Also in Kea‘au Village on Thursday was the matchup between Ka‘u and CLA boys volleyball, with the Trojans improving to 4-2 after a four-set win.
The Canefire surprisingly won the first set 25-22, but Ka‘u adjusted and put the pedal to the metal over the final three frames — winning 25-22, 25-13 and 25-19.
With the loss, CLA dropped to 1-4.
Waiakea wins home opener
Waiakea girls flag football opened its home slate with the first-ever flag football game played at Waiakea High’s Ken Yamase Stadium, and the outcome was nothing short of a success.
The Lady Warriors handled the visiting Laupahoehoe Lady Seasiders, winning 37-6 to improve to 2-1 in the early season. Waiakea has now won two in a row after dropping its opener to Hilo on March 15.
Laupahoehoe is still trying to find a groove, falling to 0-3.
The Lady Warriors will continue their homestand with their next matchup against unbeaten KSH on Wednesday in Hilo town. The Lady Seasiders are back in action Thursday against Pahoa on the Hamakua Coast.
The paper also learned that Pahoa girls flag football earned its first win in team history over Ka‘u on Thursday in Pahoa town, but could not confirm the final score by deadline. If any readers have the official score, please email clangs@westhawaiitoday.com.
