Kamehameha senior Daylen Calicdan went hitless, 0 for 4, but the second baseman was far more valuable in his other role as the team’s closer at the HHSAA Division II state baseball tournament.
Calicdan pitched 4 2/3 innings of one-run relief to carry the Warriors to a 5-4 victory over Kapolei in eight innings in the championship game on Saturday night at Wong Stadium, securing Kamehameha’s first state title after three runner-up finishes in 2010, ’13 and ’14.
It didn’t come easy for No. 1 seed Kamehameha, which fell behind three times, managed just four hits, and couldn’t figure out a Hurricane pitcher, junior Zach Collins, who was making his first start of the season. Collins is Kapolei’s closer and almost relegated the Warriors to another second-place finish.
However, the Warriors (19-1) are the five-time BIIF champions, and champions usually find a way to win when things don’t go their way (cold bats, shaky starting pitching and defense). And they found a way against an equally resilient foe in the No. 3 seed and OIA champion Hurricanes (15-1), who were seeking their first title.
“They were in a better position to win. They played well, but we hung around,” Kamehameha coach Andy Correa said. “We had to scratch and scrap. Some games you’re not going to play your best, and you have to find a way. They found a way on the first day (6-5 comeback win over Konawaena), and we found a way tonight.”
Calicdan allowed only an unearned run on three hits and three walks and struck out two in the biggest win in his prep career. He relieved starter Brandyn Lee-Lehano, who pitched a two-hitter in a 14-2 five-inning TKO win over Kalaheo in the quarterfinals on Thursday. In 3 1/3 innings, the senior ace didn’t have his best stuff and gave up three runs on six hits and two walks and whiffed four.
“Daylen was just gritty. He’s pitched under pressure before. He’s really poised,” Correa said. “He’s been there before, and he wanted the ball. We gave up hits, made errors, and those things turned into a stressful situation. But they played their hearts out. It benefited us to play at home. It was very comfortable, and special that we won here.”
No one paired hits for the Warriors, who left 10 on base, but catcher DallasJ Duarte went 1 for 3 with an RBI, and right fielder Kyran Kai batted 1 for 4 with two RBIs.
Kapolei used its top two pitchers in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Ty-Noah Williams, a senior right-hander, scattered seven hits in a 6-5 comeback win against Konawaena in the opening round. Kamea Wong, a 5-foot-4 junior left-hander, pitched five innings of two-hit ball in a 9-0 win over Radford on Friday.
Collins made his first start of the season in the state championship and ran out of gas in the bottom of the seventh, when the Warriors tied it on Kapolei’s first error. Collins finished with 6 1/3 innings in a no-decision. He allowed four runs (one unearned) on three hits and seven walks and struck out eight.
In the top of the seventh, Baron Victorino led off with a walk, was sacrificed to second by Kegan Miura, and Duarte walked, which chased Collins. Wong replaced him and retired Calicdan on a flyout to first base. That left Kamehameha with one last out to make something happen, and it didn’t look good.
Cleanup hitter Makana Aiona got stuck in an 0-2 hole. The 6-foot-1 senior third baseman took a mighty swing and sent the ball skyward. Corey Slade, the third baseman, called everyone off but dropped the ball, and Victorino raced home to tie the game at 4-4.
It also gave the Warriors new life, and they made the most of it in the eighth inning.
In the eighth with one out, Kamehameha’s third second baseman Kalai Klask-Hoopii (after Calicdan and fellow sophomore Keola Ili) walked. Kolbie Kinzie reached on Wong’s error, and Victorino walked to load the bases, which chased Wong for Williams.
“We lost our backup second baseman Kaylen Cabatu-Gapusan (head injury), and we pinch hit for Keola, and Kalai came in,” Correa said. “I don’t think Kalai had an at-bat all season. But it’s like we tell the kids, to be ready because you never know if you might come in at the state championship, and he ends up scoring the winning run.”
Williams whiffed Miura, but walked Duarte to plate the go-ahead run (Klask-Hoopii) to hand the Warriors a 5-4 lead. Calicdan flied out to right field to end the inning. Wong pitched one frame and took the loss.
In the bottom of the eighth, Calicdan got a groundout but misplayed Kyler Nakashima short pop-up for an error. Then he recorded a strikeout, but gave up a single to Andrei Stoyanow. That put runners on first and third with two out.
Kamehameha coach Correa called for an intentional walk to No. 8 batter Tristen Manoha-Diaz, a left-handed hitter, who was 1 for 1 off Calicdan. That did two pivotal things: It made a forceout at every base and took away the left-right, hitter-pitcher matchup.
Calicdan could effectively throw his curveball to Bradyn Yoshida, a right-handed hitter. Yoshida clubbed a ball to third base, and Aiona fumbled it. He had no chance to gun down the speedy Hurricane center fielder at first base. But Aiona was fast enough to grab the ball, beat Stoyanow to the bag and touch third base for the final out.
Stoyanow was a thorn at the plate all night and batted 3 for 4 with an RBI, and no one else had multi-hits for Kapolei, which stranded eight runners on base.
In the first inning, Kapolei made a bit of two-out noise when Slade sat on Lee-Lehano’s fastball, which didn’t have its downhill late sink, and singled down the third-base line. Then cleanup hitter Mykah Kuratani started his swing early and clocked a double to left center to score Slade but was gunned down at third base.
The Warriors tied it 1-1 in the second inning when Collins couldn’t find the strike zone and set himself up for trouble. The 5-10 junior right-hander gave up consecutive walks to Aiona and Jai Cabatbat but struck out Kai after he failed to get a sacrifice bunt down.
But Lee-Lehano picked Kai up when he fought back from an 0-2 count and doubled to drive in Aiona. Collins retired Kinzie on a pop-up and whiffed Baron Victorino to stomp out that runners-on-the-corners brush fire.
The Hurricanes retook the lead in the bottom of the inning when Stoyanow singled, and one batter later Yoshida perfectly timed a fastball and dribbled an RBI single up the middle for a 2-1 lead.
Collins made his own mess in the third when he beaned Miura, allowed a bunt single to Duarte and walked Calicdan. Then he battled back. Collins struck out Aiona and retired Cabatbat on a flyout to center field.
But up next was Kai, who couldn’t get a bunt down and struck out in his previous at-bat with two on. The sophomore Warrior hit a wedge shot just over second base for a two-run single. Then Collins got his dose of revenge when he whiffed Lee-Lehano, who doubled in a run in his previous at-bat, to close the inning.
Kapolei chased Lee-Lehano in the fourth when Joe Uesato hit a bloop single, and one batter later Stoyanow doubled to right center to tie it 3-3. Calicdan, the second baseman/closer, replaced Lee-Lehano and came in cold.
Calicdan threw a wild pitch that allowed Stoyanow to take third. But Calicdan picked off pinch runner Nakashima at first base. Then Calicdan got Yoshida to end the inning on a groundout to his replacement Keola Ili, who bobbled the ball and the Kamehameha faithful gasped in despair. But Ili kept his composure grabbed the ball and had enough time to throw to first.
Lee-Lehano finished with 3 1/3 innings in a no-decision and gave up three runs on six hits and two walks and struck out four. It was gritty and not pretty. But he pitched enough innings to build a bridge to Calicdan.
In the bottom of the fifth, Kamehameha’s first error turned into a harmful one when Isaac Badua clubbed a grounder but shortstop Cabatbat booted the ball. Cobey Fujii sacrificed him to second, and Slade was intentionally walked. Kuratani singled to load the bases.
Uesato, the No. 5 hitter and left fielder, hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score an unearned run off Calicdan for a 4-3 lead. Calicdan escaped when he picked off his second Hurricane. He stepped off the rubber, spotted Slade streaking to third and got him in a rundown for the third out.
Meanwhile, Kamehameha’s bats turned cold from the fourth through the sixth frame when Collins retired seven straight and nine of 10. Of those nine outs, four were on easy, non-threatening flyballs.
“Our team comes alive in the fifth, sixth, seventh innings,” said Calicdan, who forgot to mention the eighth inning, if one is needed. “As the game goes on, we get stronger.”
Collins didn’t throw as hard as the strong-armed 6-4 Lee-Lehano, who’s built like a bear and won discus gold at the BIIF track and field championships. However, Collins didn’t throw any meatball mistakes down the middle of the plate and changed speeds just enough to keep the Warriors from squaring his ball.
But the Warriors kept hanging around and made things happen in the seventh and eighth innings. And like Calicdan noted, his team got stronger. In that tense bottom of the eighth inning, Kamehameha stiff-armed Kapolei’s comeback attempt.
Correa is a school teacher, so he saw the value of Kamehameha’s gritty win in the championship.
“We never cracked. We were down three times,” he said. “After we had two blowout wins (14-2 over Kalaheo, 9-1 over St. Francis), to win the championship this way was special. It was a life lesson. It was fortitude.”
Well, fortitude, hanging around, focus and belief are all close cousins. They’re all related. And Calicdan hit a home run when he neatly summed up Kamehameha’s special season.
“It’s been a long season. We worked really hard from the beginning,” he said. “We were focused on this. To see it come true is unbelievable.”