Matson flexes flexibility as Vikings top Warriors

KEAAU — Koa Matson is favoring flexibility over strength this season, and the switch has improved his overall game.

Matson batted 3-for-3 with two RBIs, and Kody Kaniho provided six solid innings of relief to help Hilo prevail over Kamehameha-Hawaii 8-6 in a Big Island Interscholastic Federation baseball game on a rainy Friday.

The Hilo senior catcher guided an RBI single past first base in the first inning, walked in the third, hit a run-scoring single up the middle in the fourth and singled off reliever Kaimana Moike’s glove in the seventh.

Matson was 2-for-2 against Moike, a future teammate at Lon Morris, a junior college in Texas. They are also past teammates for the Hilo Senior League World Series champions last summer.

“We’re good friends, and it was fun facing him. It was a friendly competition,” Matson said. “I took a really relaxed approach. It helps me keep my head on the ball. I was able to stay closed and drive the ball to right-center today.”

No one else paired hits for the Vikings (8-3), who got their leadoff hitter on in the first four innings; no coincidence they scored all eight runs in that span.

Kaniho got the win, and Kian Kurokawa pitched an adventurous seventh for the save.

Pono Correa threw 1 1/3 innings in the loss. Kupono Decker went 1 2/3 innings, and Moike followed with four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and a walk.

No one paired hits for the Warriors (6-4).

Kaniho’s stats — six innings, three runs on two hits and three walks with eight strikeouts — aren’t flawless like Matson’s numbers. But the junior right-hander was lights out at one point, retiring 19 of 20 batters, including 13 in a row.

“I stayed relaxed and threw strikes,” Kaniho said. “I felt pretty good. My offspeed was working. In the seventh, I didn’t feel relaxed. But it was the best I’ve done so far this year.”

In the first inning, he relieved starter Conrad Kauffman, who got two outs and left with the bases loaded. Kaniho walked in a run and promptly got a groundout and flyout to end the inning.

From there, Kaniho threw goose eggs on the scoreboard for five innings. He ran into trouble in the seventh when Kupono Decker lofted a well-placed single into right field and Chay Toson smashed an RBI double to center.

That made it 8-4, and the drumbeat of late-inning drama started to get louder. Kaniho got a flyout, and Toson later scored on Jordan Hirae’s RBI groundout. Gideon Kalili walked, and Kaniho was replaced by Kurokawa.

The Hilo ace didn’t have his best stuff, walking two straight and allowing an RBI single to Pono Correa, who represented the winning run on first with two outs.

But with the bases full, Kurokawa battled with his back against the wall, firing hard stuff to run a 1-2 count on Bronson Pulgados. Then the junior right-hander pulled the string, throwing a changeup for a game-ending strikeout.

Hilo 322 100 0 — 8 10 2

KS-Hawaii 300 000 3 — 6 5 2

c Keaau 5, Ka‘u 0: Adrian Huff fired 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out eight, and Cody Silva recorded the final out with a strikeout.

Rylan Martines batted 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Cougars (4-6).

Kihei Serrao went six innings in the loss for the Trojans (2-8).

Ka‘u 000 000 0 — 0 2 3

Keaau 211 010 x — 5 8 0

c Waiakea 27, Pahoa 0: Reyn Kihara pitched three innings, and struck out four and Jace Okutsu went two innings and whiffed one in a combined five-inning no-hitter. The game ended early because of the league’s 10-run mercy rule.

Kean Wong batted 2-for-3, slamming a three-run homer. Korin Medeiros went 4-for-4, Alika Guillermo went 3-for-3 with three RBIs, Kylen Uyeda and Dean Hosaka each went 2-for-2, Davy Camacho was 3-for-4, Kihara and Tyler Ishimoto each went 2-for-3, and Kodi Medeiros went 2-for-4.

Korin Medeiros and Camacho each had two RBIs. Robbey Meguro had three RBIs for the Warriors (11-0).

The Daggers fell to 0-10.