KEALAKEKUA — Led by their underclassman, Konawaena defeated Pahoa 10-0 on a rainy Saturday to pick up a BIIF Division II win on opening day.
Several upperclassmen went down with minor injuries, most notably, the team’s No. 2 pitcher and clean-up hitter, Logan Canda.
“We had a group of boys step up and execute,” said Wildcats coach Adam Taberios. “We are not as good as we can be yet and have a lot of things to work on, but that is a good thing. It means we can get better.”
Konawaena got what they were looking for out of freshman pitcher Kolu Alani. Alani was nearly unhittable, allowing two hits, while striking out six and walking one in a complete game, five-inning shutout.
“Kolu stepped up and competed within the strike zone,” Taberios said. “He had a good average of pitches per inning and he kept the fielders in the game. He did what he wanted to do and made the hitters chase him.”
Sophomore Phillip Grace led the offense with a two-run blast that sailed over the left-center field fence in the bottom of the second inning, setting the tone for the game and putting Konawaena up, 6-0.
“Phillip is a very disciplined hitter and he sat back on a lot of pitches,” Taberios said.
Defense was the main difference between the Wildcats and the Daggers. Konawaena did not commit an error in the field. Pahoa made five.
Konawaena took an early 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Kelsey Katayama led off with a walk and advanced to second on a wild throw on a pickoff attempt. He scored on a throwing error after Tyler Kitaoka singled to left. Shelton Grace hit a chopper up the middle, that scored Kitaoka and Grace scored when Skye Suzuki reached on an error in right field.
In the second inning, Kitaoka beat out an infield hit, moved around to third, and scored on a Shelton Grace single to left. Shelton Grace trotted home on Phillip Grace’s home run.
Konawaena scored their final four runs in the bottom of the third. The Wildcats loaded the bases with no outs off two singles by AJ Allred and Suzuki, and a Katayama walk. Allred scored on a wild pitch, which ended the night for Pahoa starter Tryson Kenui, who took the loss. After the pitching change, both Suzuki and Katayama crossed the plate on a single to left by Kitaoka. Kitaoka moved to third on a throwing error and scored on a wild pitch to put Konawaena up by 10.
Alani ran into a little trouble in the top of the fifth inning while trying to close out the run-rule shortened game. He hit Justin Castro and Bill Sabaratnam came in to pinch run. Dyson Gacutan followed with a double to left to put runners on second and third with one out. Alani struck out the next batter and forced a fly-out to center to end the game.
Phillip Grace went 2 for 3 with the home run and a single. Shelton Grace was 2 for 3 with a pair of singles. Kitaoka went 2 for 3 with a single and a double. Katayama went 1 for 1 with a single and two walks from the leadoff spot. Suzuki was 1 for 2 with a double and a walk.
Konawaena will be back in action on Wednesday when they host Kamehameha. Pahoa will play at Honokaa. Both games will start at 3 p.m.
Pahoa 0 0 0 0 0 x x —0 2 5
Konawaena 3 3 4 0 x x x —10 11 0