Waiakea junior Makoa Andres and Konawaena sophomore Tristan DeAguiar each threw seven-hit complete games, and they’re both right-handed pitchers.
But that’s where the similarities end. Andres benefited from flawless defense, timely hitting, and more mustard on his fastball’s velocity.
That all helped as Waiakea defeated the Wildcats 3-1 in a BIIF baseball game on Saturday at the Warriors field.
The Warriors (9-1) remained in good position for the BIIF Division I regular season title, which includes a berth to the HHSAA state tournament.
The Division II Wildcats (8-4) lost ground on front-runner Kamehameha (10-1), which defeated Hawaii Prep 5-1.
“Kona is a great team, and we knew they were going to come in and battle us to the end,” Waiakea coach Rory Inouye said.
Andres allowed a run, two walks and struck out just three. He didn’t have fastball command and couldn’t bury his slider down and in for strikes to left-handed hitters.
The Kona lefty hitters — Logan Canda (1 for 3), Kolu Alani (1 for 2), Tevin Canda (1 for 2) and Stevie Texeira (1 for 2) — went a combined 4 for 9 with no strikeouts.
In six innings, DeAguiar surrendered three runs (two unearned), walked three and struck out one in a tough-luck loss. Senior catcher Tyler Kitaoka, who called the pitches, helped him.
“Tristan has really stepped up and has been a key competitor for the pitching staff and team,” Konawaena coach Adam Tabieros said. “Each time he’s on the mound, the team feels confident. “
Pitching is all about upsetting timing, and the two pitchers got the job done in different ways at least through five innings.
DeAguiar gave up just five hits and the game was tied 1-1 through five frames. He kept the Warriors off-balanced with off-speed pitches early in the count and spotted his fastball in the lower half of the strike zone.
But it all changed in the bottom of the sixth when Gehrig Octavio singled and reached second on an error. A batter later, Shaun Kurosawa reached on another error.
Jaron Kawaguchi had an RBI single, Mackanzy Maesaka followed with a sacrifice, and Nate Minami had another timely run-scoring single for a 3-1 lead.
“We’ve had crucial errors when it matters most,” Tabieros said. “That’s something we have to work on and get better at.”
The Warriors stranded seven runners, at least one in every inning. They kept putting pressure on DeAguiar and found their key hits at the right time.
The Wildcats left only five on, including two on in the sixth and seventh innings. But both times they couldn’t gear up to Andres’ heat and produced routine outs.
In the sixth, Waiakea shortstop Taylor Mondina charged a slow roller and easily threw to first. In the seventh, Minami, in right field, caught an easy flyball for the final out.
A pivotal play in the game was Waiakea left fielder Joey Ongais’ dart of a throw home to complete a double play in the third inning.
With one out, Vonn Yamaguchi doubled and Logan Canda singled. Kitaoka lofted a shallow flyball to left, where Ongais recorded the second out on the catch and the third on a bullet home.
“Makoa threw a great game, and he didn’t have his best stuff,” Inouye said. “But we’ve been telling him when that happens, to pitch to contact and trust your defense. And the defense played a great game.”
Konawaena 010 000 0 — 1 7 2
Waiakea 001 002 x — 3 7 0
Kamehameha 5,
Hawaii Prep 1
Senior right-hander Brandyn Lee-Lehano and freshman left-hander Tai Atkins combined for 12 strikeouts.
Lee-Lehano went 4 1/3 innings for the win and whiffed seven. He allowed a run on three hits and three walks. Atkins pitched 2 2/3 innings of one-hit relief and struck out five.
Baron Victorino batted 2 for 4 with two RBIs, Kaylen Cabatu-Gapusan went 2 for 2 and DallasJ Duarte was 2 for 3 with an RBI for the Warriors (10-1).
Finn Richmond batted 2 for 3 with an RBI, and Jonah Hurney pitched three innings in the loss for Ka Makani (5-7). Sheldon Aribal threw the final four innings.
Kamehameha 020 101 1 — 5 10 1
Hawaii Prep 000 010 0 — 1 4 1
Honokaa 7,
Keaau 2
The Dragons scored all their runs in the sixth, after the Cougars took a 2-0 lead in the top of the inning.
Benjamin Akau batted 2 for 4 with two RBIs, Nainoa Falk went 2 for 4, and Anthony Molina was 1 for 3 with an RBI to lead Honokaa (7-5).
Caden Perreira went the distance for the victory. In seven innings, he allowed two runs on two hits and five walks and struck out 11.
Keian Kanetani batted 1 for 2, including a solo homer, and took the loss for the Cougars (3-6), who committed six errors.
In six innings, Kanetani gave up seven runs on seven hits and one walk and whiffed four.
Keaau 000 002 0 — 2 2 6
Honokaa 000 007 x — 7 7 0