Freitas-Fields K’s 10 in Waiakea Victory over Kea`au

In a battle of freshman starting pitchers, Waiakea right-hander Caleb Freitas-Fields out-dueled Kea`au’s Keian Kanetani and the Warriors defeated the Cougars 3-1.

Freitas-Fields (1-0) shined under the Wong Stadium lights Friday, picking up nine strikeouts and allowing only two hits in six innings of work. He had pitched only two innings of work prior to his first start of the season.

Immediate help came from his team’s bats in the very first inning. Alika Guillermo reached base on a throwing error by Kea`au third baseman Cody Silva with one out in the inning. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, he scored on Andy Filoteo’s RBI single to make the score 1-0. The sharp grounder hit first base, forcing the ball to fly over the glove of first baseman Erik Arnold and into right field.

In the third inning, the Warriors loaded the bases with two out, setting up a ground ball base hit by Kodi Medeiros that scored Alika Guillermo and Kean Wong, giving the defending state champions a 3-0 lead.

Kea`au (1-7, 1-2 BIIF, 1-1 league seeding) had several opportunities to chip away at the deficit. In the fourth inning, Maleko Remlinger opened the frame by reaching base on catcher’s interference by Kean Wong. He was sacrificed over to second by Silva, but stranded there following a flyout by Rason Martines and a strikeout to Keha Wong.

In the fifth, Jonathan Segovia led the inning off with a single through the middle of the diamond and advanced to second base on a fielding error by Waiakea first baseman Taylor Mondina. Freitas-Fields would get right back into his groove, however, striking out Byron Cachola and Justin Quesada to end the threat.

Andy Filoteo Jr., pitching for the first time this season, came over from right field in the seventh inning to replace Freitas-Fields. The senior right-hander got into some early trouble, walking a pair of batters with one out in the inning. Kanetani grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second out, and a throwing error by Chase Komatsu at shortstop allowed Keha Wong to score from second base. The tying run, Cachola, came up to the plate, but hit a soft bouncing ball back to Filoteo, who threw over to first base for the final out.

Filoteo picked up the save in his first appearance, allowing an unearned run and walking two batters in 15 pitches.

The other starting freshman pitcher, Kea`au’s Kanetani, pitched well in the losing effort. He pitched all six innings, allowing three runs, two of them earned, on seven hits with one walk, one hit batter, and two wild pitches. He dropped to 0-1 on the season.

The Cougars managed to pick up only two hits in the game, both singles from Keha Wong and Segovia. They stranded four runners on base.

Waiakea (5-4, 3-1 BIIF, 1-1 league seeding) was led at the plate by Aaron Nishiura’s 3-for-3 effort. Komatsu, Mondina, Medeiros, and Wong each contributed a hit.

Both teams return to the diamond on Monday. The Cougars travel to Hawai`i Preparatory Academy to face Ka Makani at 3:00 p.m., while the Warriors will host Kealakehe on campus. Both games get started at 3:00 p.m. and count toward league seeding.

Kea`au 000 000 1 – 1 2 1

Waiakea 102 000 x – 3 7 3

BIIF baseball scoreboard

Hilo 6, Honoka`a 0

Hawai`i Prep 2, Kealakehe 0