KEALAKEKUA — Throughout the season, Konawaena and Hawaii Preparatory Academy have proven to be about as evenly matched as any two teams in the BIIF. Thursday evening was no different as the No. 2 seeded Wildcats and No. 3 seeded Ka Makani battled in a back-and-forth Game 1 of a Division II semifinal series.
Hawaii Prep managed to take a pair of leads in the early going, only to see Konawaena battle back each time. On the second try, the Wildcats went up for good when Jake Basque hit a bases clearing triple to give Konawaena a 6-4 victory and put his team one win away from the BIIF D-II championship series.
“From the beginning of the game I just felt this sense of confidence from the team, even when we were down,” said Konawaena head coach Adam Tabieros. “We played together and the bond the team has right now is amazing. We seem to be peaking at the right time.”
The Wildcats will play Hawaii Prep in the second game of the series today in Waimea. Game time is set for 3 p.m.
Hawaii Prep jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the third inning of the series opener thanks to a two-run home run by Finn Richmond. Konawaena has struggled to put Richmond away all season. This was his second home run of the year, and both came off Wildcats pitching. Konawaena has intentionally walked him five times.
“Finn is a really good player and sometimes the best thing to do is not pitch to him,” Tabieros said. “He has been eating us alive so we are trying to make it were the rest of the team has to beat us and not just him.”
Konawaena came back to tie the game in the bottom of the third off a walk, two singles and a double to left by Basque.
The tie held until the top of the sixth inning when one of those intentional walks to Richmond would come back to hurt the Wildcats. After Richmond trotted to first, he stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. A few pitches later he scored on another wild pitch.
In the bottom of the sixth, two straight walks with one out gave Konawaena a chance to get back into the game. Andrew Udac advanced both runners up a base after a sacrifice bunt.
With the Wildcats’ best hitter Kolu Alani coming up, Hawaii Prep head coach Jordan Hayslip elected to issue an intentional walk to set up a force out at any base. However, Basque stepped to the plate and sent the first fastball he saw down the right field line for a bases clearing, opposite field triple to seal the victory.
“I was pretty excited when they walked Kolu because I knew that any solid hit would bring in a few runs,” Basque said. “The main thing was to stay focused and not try to let the nerves take over.”
Basque was a perfect 3-for-3 on the day, with four RBIs and a run scored. He also walked once. He had the only extra base hits for the Wildcats.
“Coming into this game, we knew Jake was due,” Tabieros said. “During the entire week of practice he was working on some things and he looked good. He did a great up coming through in the clutch.”
Strategy played a key part in setting up the game winning hit by Basque. Tabieros knew once he made the call to sacrifice the runners over to second and third, there was a good chance Alani was going to be walked.
“I had a feeling,” Tabieros said. “I did have a little hope that maybe they would pitch to Kolu, but if they didn’t I was still confident that Jake would get the job done.”
Richmond led Hawaii Prep at the plate with a 2-for-2 performance. He knocked in two and scored twice, while also walking once.
Konawaena starting pitcher Stevie Texeira picked up the victory. In his six innings of work, Texeira allowed four runs, three earned off two hits. He walked four and struck out three.
“Stevie did a good job of keeping us in the game,” Tabieros said. “It took him a little bit to settle in but once he did he was able to keep Hawaii Prep off balance and he got a little help from the defense.”
Alani picked up the save, entering the seventh inning with no outs and a runner on first when Texeira was forced to leave due to pitch count. Alani allowed one hit and struck out two.
Jonah Hurney picked up a no decision after his start for Hawaii Prep. He exited the game after 5 1/3 innings, also due to pitch count. Hurney allowed four runs off six hits, while striking out six and walking one.
Richmond took the loss, allowing two runs off one hit. He walked two in two-thirds of an inning on the hill.
