By Wes Nakama

After losing only one senior from last year’s OIA champion roster, Kailua entered this season as the overwhelming favorite in the Eastern Division.

But after seven games, the surprise leader in the East standings is Kaiser, which improved to 6-1 after a 5-2 home victory over rival Kalani on Wednesday afternoon. The Cougars hold a one-game lead over Kailua (5-2) entering Saturday’s showdown against the Surfriders on Saturday.

“I think coming into the season, everybody was talking about Kailua (as the favorite),” Kaiser coach Josh Halemano said. “But we just tried to keep it quiet and show on the field. We didn’t get it done the first time (a 5-1 loss to the Surfriders on March 12), but we’re hoping for a better showing come Saturday.”

The Cougars have run off four straight wins since that road defeat, including Wednesday’s tense victory over the East side rival Falcons, who dropped to 3-4.

Kaiser took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after Noah Sham led off with a double to right-center and scored from third on Caleb Hamasaki’s bases-loaded grounder to second, followed by courtesy runner Kolt Glipa dashing home on a pickoff throw to second. The Falcons closed it to 2-1 in the second after Colby Taniguchi led off with a double to right-center, advanced to third on an infield error and then scored on Ruston Hiyoto’s fielder’s choice groundout.

The Cougars stretched the lead to 5-1 in the third after a balk, infield error and Mana Shigehara-Pang’s run-scoring single to right. But Kalani closed it to 5-2 in the fourth after Hiyoto singled to left and eventually scored on an infield error.

In the meantime, starting pitcher Hamasaki survived a walk and hit batter in the fifth by getting three flyball outs, then was relived by Gavin Knopp, who set down all six batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings.

“I knew I had to throw strikes and let my defense work,” said Hamasaki, a junior right-hander who allowed no earned runs in five innings, with five strikeouts and two walks. “At first we made a couple errors, but I knew they would flush it and I could trust them and throw strikes, and they would get the job done. And credit to Gavin coming in, he’s a tough guy. I think he did a great job closing the gate on them, because I got a little wild at the end. He’s a dog, he’s a great pitcher.”  

Hamasaki said Kaiser’s success so far has been a team effort, both on offense and defense.

“This is a good team, I just feel like we’re an all-around well bonded team,” Hamasaki said. “Credit to the coaches, too. Pitching, the fielders, every position … We’re excited. But we’re taking one game at a time.”

Halemano acknowledged that Saturday’s home showdown against Kailua is bigger than most.

“If we can come out and win, it separates us from them as far as locking up everything,” Halemano said. “Not saying that the other two games after that don’t mean anything, but it would give us the separation that we are looking for.”