Walk-Off Walk Hands DII Baseball Title to KS-Hawai`i

In high school baseball, pressure moments tend to wear on pitchers more than anyone other position in the field

On Friday night, relief pitchers for both Konawaena and Kamehameha-Hawai`i felt the heat of a seventh inning rally, with the Warriors pulling out a 7-6 victory on a walk-off walk to Daylan Calicdan.

Konawaena (16-5 overall, 11-3 BIIF overall, 8-3 BIIF seeding) entered the seventh inning trailing 4-3 against Warriors’ reliever Chay Toson. Toson allowed Domonic Morris to reach base with one out in the inning thanks to a base hit. He later moved over to third base on a throwing error by catcher Makoa Rosario and scored on a wild pitch. That opened the flood gates as two more runners score on a third error by Rosario and a wild pitch by Toson, giving Konawaena a 6-4 lead heading to the bottom of the inning.

Morris, who pitched in relief of Shelton Grace and Ryan Torres-Torioka, immediately got himself in trouble in the bottom half of the frame. Bronson Pulgados singled to left field on a 3-2 pitch to start the inning and advanced to second on a walk to Jordan Hirae.

Two batters later, Micah Carter singled on an 0-2 pitch to score Pulgados, cutting Konawaena’s lead to 6-5. Next up was Kupono Decker, who reached on an error by Torres-Torioka to score Hirae, tying the game at six.

Two batters later, with the bases loaded, Morris missed low with a fastball on a 3-2 pitch to Calicdan, scoring Carter ti seal the win for the Warriors.

Morris took the loss, pitching three and two-thirds innings of relief, allowing the three seventh inning runs on two hits with five walks.

The senior left-hander started the game in center field and made an immediate impact in the top of the first inning. He reached on an error by Carter to start the game, and scored on Torres-Torioka’s sacrifice bunt. Morris rounded second and headed to third, forcing Carter to throw across the diamond to challenge him. The throw bounced past Pulgados at third base and went into foul ground, allowing Morris to come home on the play. He batted 1-for-4 for the evening.

The Warriors answered back in the bottom of the first inning with two out against Grace. Pulgados reached base with a walk and advanced to third base on a pair of wild pitches.  Two batters later, Rosario singled into left field to tie the game.

Home plate umpire Ben Doss decided to halt the game after the inning ended because of heavy rain. The rain delay, which lasted an hour and 33 minutes, followed 26 minutes of game action. Both teams took the field again at 4:55 p.m. without any further delays.

Konawaena got back on the board in the third inning when JJ Kitaoka drove in Torres-Torioka with an RBI single to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead. They extended the lead in the next inning with a successful squeeze bunt by Jordan Miyahira-Young, scoring Royce Torres-Torioka extend the lead to 3-1.

Kamehameha-Hawai`i (16-2-1 overall, 13-2 BIIF overall, 9-2 BIIF seeding) had a breakthrough inning in the fourth by getting the first three men on base, chasing Grace from the game. Rosario, who reached on a walk, scored on a wild pitch. Calicdan walked with the bases loaded againsr reliever Ryan Torres-Torioka, scoring Carter to tie the game. Morris then entered the game in relief and immediately walked Chad Teshima on five pitches to give the Warriors the lead.

Toson took the win for Kamehameha-Hawai`i, allowing three runs on one hit with three walks and three strikeouts. He also batted 0-for-4 at the plate.

Carter, despite committing two errors at first base, batted 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Calicdan batted 1-for-2 with two bases loaded walks, a small portion of the 11 walks issued by Konawaena pitchers on the evening.

Konawaena managed to compile only five hits on the day. Morris, Ryan Torres-Torioka, Kitaoka, Evyn Yamaguchi, and Royce Torres-Torioka eached picked up one of those hits.

Including the rain delay, Saturday’s Division II marathon lasted four hours and 36 minutes in front of a packed house at Wong Stadium.

Both teams will participate in the Wally Yonamine Foundation / Hawai`i High School Athletic Association Division II Championships beginning Thursday at Waipahu’s Hans L`Orange Park.

Konawaena 101 100 3 – 6 5 2

Kamehameha-Hawai`i 100 300 3 – 7 6 5