KAILUA-KONA — Several Big Island Interscholastic games for baseball, softball and volleyball took place over the weekend across the isle, as playoffs for each respective sport are slated to begin this week.
BASEBALL PAHOA 15, KOHALA 0
Some seasons end great, and others don’t.
That duality was evident in the outcome of Friday’s matchup between Pahoa High and Kohala High’s baseball teams — in which the Daggers crushed the Cowboys 15-0 to approach the playoffs at .500 and send their opponents home with a winless season.
For Pahoa, it was a fun senior night and a confidence-booster for this week’s upcoming Central Pecific Bank/BIIF Division II playoffs — for Kohala, it was the last in a long line of routs.
The Cowboys got off to a rough start against the Daggers and couldn’t recover. After finding little success at the plate in the top first, Kohala surrendered eight runs to Pahoa in the bottom frame — many of which were made possible by fielding errors.
Though the Daggers continued to hammer the Cowboys throughout the rest of the game, Kohala still managed some highlights — including a double play with putouts at first and home during the bottom of the second inning.
Now 5-5, Pahoa secured the No. 4 spot in the BIIF DII playoffs — where it will play a best-of-three series against KS-Hawai‘i (9-1) this weekend, alternating home sites. The Daggers also entered last year’s playoffs at No. 4, and clashed with Konawaena, falling in a narrow two games.
Kohala is done for the season at 0-10, and was outscored 154-27 by BIIF opponents this season.
HILO 3, KONAWAENA 0
Hilo High’s baseball team shut out Konawaena High to check off its last remaining, rescheduled regular season outing and confirm its undefeated status — defeating the Wildcats 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in Hilo.
Konawaena kept things close, but Hilo’s hitting came through to plate a run in the bottom second and two in the third.
After Talus Sato singled to bat in Dylan Villanueva, Zion Palea’s groundout gave Kameron Agpalza a window to score and Villanueva hit a sac fly to drive in Legend Lancaster.
Jaydon Geraci got the start on the mound and earned the win, tossing the first three innings and allowing three hits. Villanueva subbed in for a perfect two innings, and then Agpalza tossed the sixth and Lancaster closed out the seventh.
After a rough first three innings for the Wildcats, Stephen Amafala-Marquad got on the mound for Konawaena and held the Vikings to just three hits and no walks for the rest of the game.
Hilo completed its second consecutive undefeated regular season, and will next gear up to try for its first BIIF DI title since before the pandemic. The Vikings will enter in the No. 1 seed for the second straight year, and are projected to face No. 4 Kealakehe (2-8) in a series this weekend.
Hilo ended Konawaena’s seven-win streak as the Wildcats wrapped up with a 7-3 record. Konawaena will face No. 3 Ka‘u High in this weekend’s BIIF DII semifinals.
HPA 13, KEA‘AU 3
Ka Makani ended its season on a high note, dominating Kea‘au High 13-3 on Saturday morning in Waimea.
HPA got its bats going, led by Nainoa Hummel, who hit two doubles and a triple to go three-for-four with three RBIs. Kamea Leleiwi hit a three-run double, and Nishiki Iwai doubled twice to go two-for-four and drive in two runs. Alex Goodman went two-for-three.
Iwai also pitched all five innings — surrendering two earned runs on four hits and three walks, striking out five.
On Kea‘au’s side, Robert Lucas Madeiros went one-for-two to lead the Cougars, Koen Kaeo walked to push in a run on loaded bases and Mikah Ibanez had a sac fly RBI. Joel Neves also scored a run on an infield error.
HPA’s season concluded with a 3-7 record, outside the playoff bubble at No. 6. Ka Makani’s two other victories this season were over Kohala and Honoka‘a High.
Kea‘au, on the other hand, is playoff-bound — and, thanks to its wins over Kealakehe and Kohala last week, will not enter in the bottom seed. The No. 3 Cougars (2-8) will face off against Waiakea High in this weekend’s semifinals.
SOFTBALL KEALAKEHE 14, HILO 4
After more than a week spent inactive, Kealakehe High’s softball team returned for one last regular-season rout — defeating Hilo High to finish the regular season undefeated on Saturday morning in Kailua-Kona.
Katherine Keizer went two-for-three with three RBIs to lead the Waveriders at the plate. Caitlyn Nakamura also went two-for-four with two RBIs and Malia Polimino hit a two-run triple to go one-for-four.
Emalia Emmsley pitched all five innings for Kealakehe — surrendering one earned run on three hits and five walks, striking out six.
Mackenzie Valentine, Dashley Arurang and Malia Simram came through with hits for Hilo.
The ‘Riders are 10-0 and will enter the BIIF DI semifinals at No. 1, facing No. 4 Kea‘au High starting Tuesday in Kona.
The No. 3 Vikings moved to 6-3, and will clash with No. 2 Waiakea in a series that will also begin Tuesday.
KOHALA 28, PAHOA 1
Kohala High’s softball team completed its regular season with a massive rout of Pahoa High, trampling the Daggers 28-1 in a three-inning TKO on Friday afternoon at Hilo’s Walter Victor Baseball Complex.
Three Cowgirls hit home runs in the third inning — Kalia Marquez, Savannah Kupuka‘a and Kailani Valenzuela. Mahea Pang also tripled during the same frame.
Kohala and Pahoa entered the second inning tied 1-1, but the Cowgirls opened the flood gates in the top frame — running through their lineup twice to plate 17 runs. Kohala capitalized heavily on errors, and the Cowgirls also combined for a grand total 25 stolen bases on the outing — led by Camille Fuertes and Faith Alejandro-Cazimero with five each.
Pahoa’s lone run was scored by Noelle Morgan, batted in by Isabella Tokelau’s double during the bottom of the first inning.
The Daggers didn’t get to spend much time at the plate due to Kohala’s stingy defense. Marquez pitched all three innings, surrendering one walk and one hit with four strikeouts through 11 batters.
The Cowgirls ended their season above .500 at 5-4, and are locked in for the No. 2 seed in next week’s BIIF Division II playoffs. Kohala is projected to face off against No. 3 Honoka‘a in a best-of-three series this week — with the first game set for 3 p.m. Tuesday in Kapa‘au.
Pahoa is done for the season, closing out with a 2-7 and standing at No. 5 — outside of the playoff bubble. The Daggers’ two wins were against KS-Hawai‘i in late February and against Ka‘u High two weeks ago.
VOLLEYBALL HPA 3, KA UMEKE 0
Hawaii Preparatory Academy boys volleyball ended the BIIF regular season on a high note Friday night in Castle Gym against Ka Umeke — winning in straight set scores of 25-17, 25-18 and 25-11. It was Ka Makani’s second consecutive win.
The red and white also played Thursday night against Honoka‘a, winning in three sets — 25-18, 25-23 and 25-21.
HPA officially ended the regular season at 6-5, good enough for the No. 6 seed. Ka Makani will play the No. 7 Dragons again in the first round of BIIF playoffs, slated for 6 p.m. Thursday in Castle Gym.
Ka Umeke additionally played Kanu o Ka ‘Aina on Saturday morning on the road, but West Hawaii Today and Hawaii Tribune-Herald were unable to obtain the scores. Any readers that may know the result, please email clangs@westhawaiitoday.com or cwhitt@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
KONA 3, HONOKA‘A 0
Konawaena boys volleyball ended its BIIF regular season undefeated with a win against Honoka‘a on Friday — 25-16, 25-12 and 25-12.
The win secured the Wildcats’ spot at the No. 1 seed in the BIIF tournament, in which the green and white earned a berth in the DII semifinals, which are next Monday at 6 p.m. at Konawaena High School. Kona’s (10-0) opponent is to be determined.
Honoka‘a (3-7) locked up the No. 7 seed and will play HPA on Thursday in Waimea in the opening round.
CLA 3, MLCA 0
Christian Liberty Academy’s boys volleyball squad had plenty of reasons to celebrate, as it ended its season and senior night with its second win on Friday in Kea‘au.
The Canefire swept Makua Lani Christian Academy — prevailing over the Lions in straight sets of 25-15, 25-17 and 25-17.
Though CLA fell just a couple of games short of making a back-to-back BIIF DII playoff appearance this season, it ended a seven-game skid that began in late March. The Canefire’s season is over, as it closes out with a 2-8 record.
Makua Lani also ended its season, but without a win. The Lions are done at 0-10, with just one set win on the season.
HILO 3, WAIAKEA 0
Hilo won the first of what will be two matchups within a week at Waiakea, sweeping the Warriors to move to 9-1.
The Vikings dominated in sets of 25-16, 25-17 and 25-14.
If Hilo wins its next two matchups — at Kea‘au on Monday night and at Waiakea again on Wednesday — it will have the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Central Pacific Bank/BIIF DI playoffs.
Waiakea dropped to 3-7, and will have one more game before its season finale on Wednesday against Hilo — a road test at Kealakehe High on Monday.
The BIIF DI playoffs will begin on April 29th.