Kamehameha played baseball games on most Saturdays during the season, but senior ace right-hander Brandyn Lee-Lehano still managed to squeeze in just enough track and field competitions to qualify for the BIIF championships.
With a day off on the diamond last Saturday — what do you know? — Lee-Lehano, in only his third meet of the season, brought home a discus title.
“My (baseball) teammates were telling me, oh, you just showed up and won,” Lee-Lehano said.
And that was that.
Pitching is at a premium in the postseason, and the 6-foot-4 Lee-Lehano’s discus days are done. After letting fly with a winning toss of 147 feet, he’ll see how far he can help carry the top-seeded Warriors in their bid to capture a first HHSAA Division II baseball title.
“We were all stoked because we’ve never been the No. 1 seed before,” Lee-Lehano said.
Kamehameha (16-1), the five-time BIIF champion, also has never played in Hilo in search of a state title.
There is no trip to Oahu this season. The Warriors held one last practice Monday on their home field before getting ready to set up shop at their home away from home, Wong Stadium.
“Actually, I was bummed at first because that’s one less trip we get to go on,” senior Daylen Calicdan said. “But this is better for us. We’re used to that field and all my family gets to watch.”
Kamehameha opens against OIA runner-up Kalaheo (9-5) at 7 p.m. Thursday, the last of four quarterfinals. At 2 p.m., BIIF runner-up Konawaena (11-7) plays OIA champion Kapolei (13-0).
The Wildcats are making their eighth state trip in nine seasons, though they haven’t won their opener since 2009.
Absent from the eight-team field is Maryknoll, which won half of the eight D-II tournaments, including the last three, before moving up to Division I.
“Everybody is good,” Kamehameha coach Andy Correa said. “We try to tell the kids that everybody is used to winning.”
If Kamehameha has its way it will be just another night at Wong Stadium for three nights running, with, as Correa, said, “bigger crowds.”
“We’ve had a couple of night games (at Wong), so we’ve experienced the pressure before, especially in the game against Waiakea,” Calicdan said. “Us beating Hilo (at home) and Waiakea (at Wong) gets us ready for the state tournament even more. We’ve been there, we’ve played good teams and we came out on top.”
The Warriors moved down to Division II before the 2010 season in part to have a better chance to win a state championship. They’ve come close, finishing runner-up three times, including shutout losses to Maryknoll in 2013 and 2014.
“This team is like other teams we’ve had,” Correa said. “They play pretty good defense, they throw strikes and try to take advantage when we can on offense.
“As long as our pitchers compete and throw strikes, we should be in the games.”
Second-seeded Kauai (11-1), which plays Radford (9-4) at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, is the most recent state champ in the field, winning in 2008 and 2011. MIL champion Molokai (11-0), which opens against St. Francis (15-4) at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, won back-to-back state crowns in 1999 and 2000 before classification and Radford was the 1979 champion.
“States is pretty much the same competition level as playing Hilo or Waiakea, except this time we have to face three good pitchers, all in a row,” Calicdan said.
In 2012, Waiakea won the Division I state title using just two pitchers, though both were future pros: Quintin Torres-Costa and Kodi Medeiros.
In the best-case scenario, Correa anticipates handing the ball to Lee-Lehano and freshman Tai Atkins for the first two games, keeping Lee-Lehano in play for the title game. Calicdan can close and sophomore Justyce Ishii also can pitch.
Kamehameha has had a tendency to leave runners on base, but Correa likes the way his lineup and middle-of-the-order hitters DallasJ Duarte, Calicdan, Makana Aiona and Jai Cabatbat are keeping pressure on teams.
“When we’ve lost at states it’s because we’ve faced good pitching,” Correa said.
Lee-Lehano has delivered three complete games in a row, two in the BIIF playoffs.
“Coach said that I’m probably going to start Game 1, and we’ll see after that,” he said.
“I’m on a good streak. I’m just feeling good and everything is coming out good.”