KEALAKEKUA — Konawaena hung with defending BIIF Division II champion Kamehameha early, but Jonah “Malu” Peralta tossed a three-hitter, Daylen Calicdan hit a three-run home run and the Warriors took advantage of a bevy of defensive miscues by the Wildcats,
KEALAKEKUA — Konawaena hung with defending BIIF Division II champion Kamehameha early, but Jonah “Malu” Peralta tossed a three-hitter, Daylen Calicdan hit a three-run home run and the Warriors took advantage of a bevy of defensive miscues by the Wildcats, leaving Gabby Inaba Field with a 7-0 victory on a cold and cloudy Wednesday.
“This was a well-played game and well-pitched on both sides,” Warriors head coach Andy Correa said. “Our pitcher did a good job and kept us in the game, and the defense made the plays they needed to.”
For the first three innings, Konawaena’s Shelton Grace and Peralta locked arms in a pitcher’s duel, but the Wildcats’ defense began to falter in the top of the fourth inning.
The first two batters, Kegan Muira and Baron Victorino, reached on infield errors, putting runners at first and third. Muira scored the first run of the game for the Warriors (1-0) on a sacrifie fly off the bat of Calicdan. After a single to center by Makana Aiona, a balk brought home Victorino for a 2-0 Kamehameha lead.
“The first few innings showed us a glimpse of who we are and what we can become as a team, but we have to do that for a complete game,” Konawaena head coach Adam Taberios said. “The mental errors and physical errors cost us big. Our execution wasn’t there.”
In the bottom of the inning, Phillip Grace led off with a single to center. He stole second with one out and attempted to steal third with two outs, but was thrown out by DallasJ Duarte.
Kamehameha followed with three insurance runs in the top of the fifth. Victorino reached on an error by the third baseman and Muira walked to put two on for Calicdan, who turned on a hanging curveball for a home run to left.
The Warriors added two runs in the top of the seventh off three hits, a sac bunt and an error.
Peralta walked two and struck out five. Kamehameha’s defense committed only one error. Aiona collected three hits and Calicdan had two.
Grace took the loss in a complete game. He allowed seven runs, only three earned, off six hits and three walks in seven innings of work. He struck out six.
“Shelton did a good job on the mound and kept the batters off balance for most of the day,” Taberios said after his team fell to 1-1. “Kamehameha is a great team and we showed we can battle. If we stay focused we will get better and maybe there will be a different outcome.”
Kamehameha 000 230 2 — 7 5 1
Konawaena 000 000 — 0 3 4
Pahoa 4, Honokaa 3: The Daggers evened their record at 1-1, spoiling the Dragons’ opener at home.
Further details were not available at press time.
