KAILUA-KONA — Will the third time be the charm? Kealakehe has given itself a chance to find out just that.
Behind some stellar pitching from freshman ace Telsea Taketa and an opportunistic offense, the Waveriders took both games from Keaau in a doubleheader on Saturday, sweeping the best-of-three BIIF Division I semifinal series and advancing to the championship for a third year in a row.
“Doubleheaders are rare for us, so to overcome that was big. It helped that it was a beautiful day, too,” Kealakehe head coach Loni Mercado said. “The girls work hard. They were able to push through that first game when everyone was fresh and continued to play hard until the end.”
The Waveriders will face three-time defending BIIF champion Waiakea for the D-I title, which handled Hilo in the other semifinal series. The games are slated for April 28 at Old Kona Airport Park.
Both Kealakehe and Waiakea have locked up a HHSAA state tournament spot, with the winner of the BIIF getting a seeded berth.
“We prepared really hard for these games,” Kealakehe senior Jami Tan said. “We are all really excited to move on and we are ready for Waiakea.”
Kealakehe used a late surge to take Game 1 by a score of 11-2, breaking open a close game with 10 runs on six hits in the fifth and sixth innings combined. Tan and Kaylyn Villanueva each notched three-hit performances, recording a pair of RBIs each.
The offensive fireworks would carry over to the second half of the doubleheader, with Villanueva leading the way again. The sophomore catcher added three RBIs to her stat line, helping Kealakehe reel off an impressive 13-1 victory.
The only thing louder than Kealakehe’s bats during the double-header was the Waveriders’ dugout. The team had no problem staying motivated, raucously chanting their greatest hits to fuel the offensive outbursts.
“It just comes to us,” Tan said with a laugh. “We are all cheerleaders for each other. It helps keep our morale up.”
Taketa has thrived down the stretch in her role as Kealakehe’s ace in the circle, and that theme continued against the Cougars. She went the distance in both games, allowing just one earned run on the day, striking out a combined 11 batters and only walking two.
“She just does her thing out there,” Mercado said. “She puts in the work and it shows.”
Due to some weather issues, Kealakehe and Keaau only met once in the regular season. It turned out to be a 10-9 thriller won by the ‘Riders. However, the matchup of the No. 2 and 3 seeds played out much different in the postseason and free passes helped ensure that. Keaau hit 15 batters over the two games and walked five more.
“We weren’t able to collect too much data on them, so we based a lot of our preparation on that first outing,” Mercado said. “Keaau came to play, especially in the first game today. Hats off to them. They are getting better and better every year and will continue to be tough competition for us.”
The Waveriders are embracing a championship trilogy against Waiakea, the team that has stymied the program’s dreams of a first title the past two seasons. As the saying goes, to be the best, you have to beat the best, which Waiakea has proven to be as its senior class aims to go a perfect 4-for-4 with BIIF titles.
“Can’t complain about that,” Mercado said of the matchup. “We don’t mind facing them every year until we break through. Our girls have what it takes — they have showed us that before.”
However, Mercado admits the journey this season has been a little bit different. Last year, the Waveriders had more senior depth and rapport with one another. This time around, with just two seniors on the roster — Tan and Dezarae Garcia — and some fresh faces, there’s been no shortage of lessons learned.
“It’s constant coaching,” Mercado said. “These girls are young, and even at this point in the season we are still learning, coaches and players. The key for us is just trusting in the process, trusting in the system.”