State Berth Up for Grabs in BIIF Baseball Championships

The Big Island Interscholastic Federation baseball championship isn’t the only thing at stake when Hilo and Kea’au meet Friday to open up the best-of-three BIIF Division I championship series.

Thanks to Hilo’s two-game sweep of Waiakea last week, the last of two berths into the Wally Yonamine Foundation/Hawai’i High School Athletic Association Division I Baseball Championships remains up in the air. The Warriors have already claimed a state berth by winning the regular season title, leaving the final spot open for the tournament.

Had Waiakea won its series with Hilo, the berth would have gone to the winner of the Kea’au/Kealakehe series. Now, two more wins are needed to not only claim the state berth, but one of four seeds and a bye.

After a delayed start Friday due to bad weather, Hilo stunned Waiakea 7-4 to take the early advantage. The next day, Hilo took the second game at Waiakea High School by the final of 5-4.

Kea’au, meanwhile, went the distance in its series at Kealakehe. The Cougars managed to get just one hit in their 2-1 eight-inning loss in game one Friday. In the second game, Kea’au lost a 4-0 lead, but rallied back to win 5-4.

Both teams played the rubber game of the series on Saturday. Kealakehe’s pitching fizzled late, and the Cougars took advantage to win a 10-6 decision.

Both state berths have been locked up in Division II. Kamehameha-Hawai’i won the regular season championship and swept Hawai’i Preparatory Academy 9-4 and 15-1 Friday to advance to Thursday’s championship series.

Konawaena’s sweep over Kohala wasn’t as easy. The Wildcats erased a 9-3 deficit and beat Kohala 10-9 in eight innings to win the opening game of the series. Konawaena carried the momentum into the second game, running away with a 14-2 victory to capture the final state berth and a spot in the championships.

Thursday’s Division II doubleheader will get underway at 3 p.m. at Wong Stadium. The Division I doubleheader will start at the same time and venue on the following day. If a third game is needed in either series, it will be played on Saturday. The time for a deciding game has yet to be determined.