KEALAKEKUA — Sheldon Aribal threw seven strong innings and Finn Richmond came up with a clutch 2-RBI double in the top of the seventh inning as Hawaii Preparatory Academy completed the upset over Konawaena with a 4-2 victory in the rubber match of a three game BIIF Division II Semifinal Series on Monday at Gabby Inaba Field.
With the win, Hawaii Prep finds itself in BIIF championship series for the first time since 2014. They have not won a league title since 2009, and will face a tough team in Kamehameha-Hawaii.
“This is great for the program and gives us more season, more practices and more competitive situations,” said HPA head coach Jordan Hayslip. “We get to compete for a championship, which is what you play for.”
The Wildcats went into the series as the favorites, boasting the No. 2 seed and taking both regular season matchups with Ka Makani. But their bats went silent in two of the three games against Ka Makani pitching, leading to an earlier than expected exit.
Hawaii Prep jumped on the board early with two runs in the first inning. Before adding two more runs later in the game, Ka Makani had scored all of its runs in the series in the opening frame.
The two early runs gave Aribal plenty to work with, though the young pitcher was nearly overcome by butterflies in the stomach early on.
“In the first inning I was nervous out of my mind,” Aribal said. “But each inning I got a little more comfortable and by the end of the game I felt pretty good.”
Aribal threw the complete game, while spreading out seven hits. He allowed two unearned runs, one coming in the third inning and another coming in the bottom of the seventh. He struck out four and walked two.
“He got off to a slow start and it took a while for him to settle down,” Hayslip said. “Once he got into a rhythm he got better and better.”
Konawaena struggled to find an answer for Aribal, but they were also getting a strong pitching performance out of their starter, Kolu Alani, who also threw in the first game.
Alani threw 4 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and two runs, while striking out two and walking one. He also was on the receiving end of some great defensive plays behind him, including an unbelievable diving catch by Austin Ewing for the first out in the fourth frame.
On the play, the ball was hit down the left field line, and Ewing — a multi-sport standout — sprinted at an angle backwards and made a full out dive, hauling in the ball near the warning track. Ewing was also Konawaena’s top hitter in the game, going 2-for-3 with a run and a walk.
“He has been strong for us all year and he leads by example,” said Konawaena head coach Adam Tabieros. “He is a competitor.”
Still down 2-1, Alani was replaced by Stevie Texeira with one out in the top of the fifth inning. Ka Makani threatened to score late in the inning with a runner on third and two outs. Tabieros then elected to take a gamble and intentionally walk Richmond, one of HPA’s top hitters. The gamble paid off as Texeira struck out the next batter, making his coach’s decision look better in the process.
HPA pulled a similar trick defensively in the bottom of the fifth. With runners on second and third, and two outs, Hayslip elected to load the bases with an intentional walk, bringing up Alani, who has been Konawaena’s most consistent hitter all season long. Alani hit the ball hard, but it was a grounder right at second baseman Skyler Roque-Sunhara, who tossed to Richmond for the out at second.
Entering the final inning, HPA looked to gain a little breathing room. Texeira was dealing at the time and struck out the first two batters in the inning. However, Blake Hurney singled to right and Braden Kojima walked, putting two runners on for Richmond.
Richmond fell behind early in the count, taking the first strike and swinging and missing on the second. The third pitch was a ball in the dirt, which allowed the two runners to move into scoring position at second and third.
Richmond worked the count full before hitting a Texeira pitch just out of the reach of a diving Vohn Yamaguchi in center for a stand-up double, two RBIs, and a 4-2 Ka Makani lead.
“I was looking for something good to hit and I knew with a 3-2 count he was probably going to throw a strike,” Richmond said. “I got it and took a swing at it.”
With a three-run cushion, Aribal took the mound in the bottom of the seventh, looking to close out the game. He allowed an early single to Ewing but got the next two batters out. With Ewing on second, Aribal went to work on Alani, who hit a line drive to center, but straight at Jonah Hurney. The ball touched his glove and the celebration started, but it didn’t last long. A second later, players looked on as the ball hit the ground, allowing Ewing to score on the error.
A play like that can quickly lead to catastrophe, but Aribal, shaking his arms and contorting his body on the mound, stayed relaxed. He forced the next batter to hit a come-backer right at him. He knocked the ball down and tossed to first, allowing the real celebration to began.
“I just wanted to get out of there and go home,” Aribal said. “This is something that I have looked forward to. I have never won a game this big and it means a lot.”
Hurney’s mistake did not hurt his team in the end, and he more than made up for it at the plate, where he went 4-for-4 with two runs scored. Richmond finished 2-for-2 with a run, three RBIs and two walks.
“HPA wanted it more,” Tabieros said. “We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy game and they really battled hard and you could tell they wanted it by the way the presented themselves.”