KS-Hawaii Wins Opener in Wet Costales Tourney

A heavy downpour ushered the Maui and Hawai`i Island campuses of Kamehameha Schools to Wong Stadium Thursday afternoon in their first game at the 2013 Stanley Costales Sr. Memorial Baseball Tournament.

A heavier, longer lasting stream of showers forced both teams off the field after nearly two hours of play, cutting short the opening day of tournament play.

Both schools did play six innings before umpires ended the game, with Kamehameha-Hawai`i defeating Kamehameha-Maui 5-2.

In the only other game played at Wong Stadium, Konawaena defeated Campbell 4-2.

Because of the bad weather, Friday’s tournament games have been moved to Konawaena High School.

Kamehameha-Hawai`i opened up the scoring with an RBI single by designaed hitter Alika Young, scoring Jordan Hirae to give the Kea`au campus a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Hirae reached on a walk and was moved over by an error and a sacrifice bunt.

Kamehameha-Maui evened the score in the bottom of the third against experienced starter Kupono Decker. With one out, Maui center fielder Cal Alexander hit a fly ball to right field in the dark, slightly damp Hilo sky. Hirae twisted and turned to get under the baseball and almost made an over-the-shoulder catch to make the second out. Instead, the ball fell out of the middle of his glove and hit the outfield grass, allowing Alexander to reach second base.

After a Mailie Santiago walk and a Tyler Harry single, Kanamu helped his own cause with a fielder’s choice to second base, scoring Alexander to tie the game.

Hilo High baseball players rushed out to cover the mound and home plate as soon as the KS-Maui / KS-Hawaii game ended. Photo credit: Josh Pacheco

KS-Hawai`i broke the game open with a four-run inning off of Kanamu in the fourth. Daylen Calicdan smashed a double by third base, scoring Matt Chun and Young to make the score 3-1 with one out. After a walk to Chay Toson, Chad Teshima’s slow ground ball to Kanamu scored Calicdan on the unassisted putout. Bronson Pulgados followed with an RBI single to drive Toson home, making the score 5-1.

Pulgados moved to the mound to pitch the final two innings. In the fifth, he allowed an unearned run when Santiago scored on a fielding error by first baseman Kevin Davis, who dropped the ball on a throw by third baseman Calicdan.

In the seventh, the right handed Pulgados allowed Cal Alexander to reach base on a single with two out in the inning. After a wild pitch moved him over to second base, Alexander struck out pinch hitter Cody Fushikoshi-Wago to end the inning, and thanks to the ugly weather, the game.

Kamehameha-Hawai`i got their biggest production from the bottom four hitters in their order. Decker, Chun, Young, and Calicdan combined to hit 6-for-10 with two doubles and two runs batted in.

Decker, a composed senior hurler, picked up the win by pitching four innings of three-hit baseball, allowing an unearned run with two walks and a strikeout. Pulgados gave up three hits and an unearned run to go along with three strikeouts, a walk, and a wild pitch.

The loss went to Kanamu, who allowed five runs, four of them earned, in five innings. He allowed six hits, walked three batters, fanned a pair of hitters, both in the first inning, and threw a wild pitch. Keoni Keanini got out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning by giving up three hits, but no runs crossed.

Because of various factors, including travel, lack of lights at Konawaena’s baseball field, and accommodations for traveling teams, the bracket format for this year’s tournament has been scrubbed. Head coach Tony DeSa said that they are trying to get three games in for each neighbor island team.

Waiakea and Kamehameha-Hawai`i are not making the trip to Konawaena.

Kamehameha-Hawai`i 010 400 – 5 9 2

Kamehameha-Maui 001 010 – 2 6 3

Friday’s Tournament schedule

9:00 a.m. – Hilo vs. Kamehameha-Kapalama

11:30 a.m. – Konawaena vs. Pac-Five

2:00 p.m. – Campbell vs. Kamehameha-Maui