By Wes Nakama
WAILUKU — A first-inning run scored after a walk, groundout and two-out infield error was all Baldwin needed on offense Thursday evening to stun top-seeded Kamehameha, 1-0, in tense quarterfinal action at the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Baseball State Championships.
A near-capacity crowd of about 1,200 at idyllic Iron Maehara Stadium watched the defending co-champion Bears, who were Maui Interscholastic League runners-up this season, improve to 14-3 and advance to Friday’s 4 p.m. semifinal game against No. 4 seed Waiakea (8-3-1). ILH runner-up Saint Louis (13-6) will face MIL champ Kamehameha-Maui (13-3) in the other semifinal at 7.
In a baseball oddity, Kamehameha pitchers Greyson Osbun and Kai Kaneshiro combined on a one-hitter, but the Warriors lost. The game’s lone run was scored in the top of the first inning, after Marley Sebastian drew a one-out walk, advanced to second on Jevon Raboy’s groundout to first and scored on an infield error.
The Warriors stranded a runner at second in each of the first two innings, and Baldwin starter Jayden Perry-Waikiki then retired the next eight batters in order until the bottom of the fifth, when Logan Akaka led off with a single to center and Kaulana Quinlan followed with a bunt single.
After a fielder’s choice throw to third forced out the lead runner, pinch-hitter Isaiah Aliksa was hit by a pitch with two outs to load the bases. Kiai Sylvester then hit a sharp grounder to third, but Raboy snared it and stepped on the bag to kill the rally.
Kamehameha loaded the bases again in the seventh, after Akaka led off with a line single to left, Logan Sanchez reached on a two-out infield error and Taj Uyehara followed with a walk. Then the next batter, dangerous hitter Kiai Sylvester, drew a 2-0 count before Perry-Waikiki took a deep breath and fired a fastball strike.
“That was a huge strike, right there,” Bears coach Craig Okita said. “I didn’t want to throw that guy (Sylvester) a fastball, either, but we had to because if we throw a ball there, the chances of him walking to tie the game are extremely high. So (Perry-Waikiki) made the pitch when it counted, when we needed it. Hat’s off to him.”
On the next pitch — another fastball — Sylvester crushed a long, high fly ball to left field where Kaedyn Miyake-Matsubayashi tracked it down and caught it for the final out.
“It’s not how you start, it’s always how you finish,” Perry-Waikiki said. “I threw two balls, and I took a little walk around the mound and was like, ‘C’mon, I got this.’ Then I threw a fastball (with a 2-1 count), and my boy Kaedyn backed me up and just tracked that ball down. I knew he had it, he was sitting on that ball, I wasn’t worried one bit.”
The Warriors finished with five hits to Baldwin’s one, but they also had nine runners left on base. Kamehameha starter Greyson Osbun allowed just the one hit and two walks with three strikeouts over six innings pitched, and closer Kaneshiro set down his three batters in order on six pitches, with one strikeout.
“I thought we were going to win, I really did … but it is what it is,” Warriors coach Daryl Kitagawa said. “Until the last out is made, I’ll always have faith in our guys. I mean, shoot, Kiai hit the ball great … but at the end of the day, we lost.”
Perry-Waikiki, who missed much of the season with an injury to his right (pitching) hand, finished with a five-hitter with one walk and one strikeout.
“We got one hit, and they got five … and with those guys (Osbun and Kaneshiro) pitching, they’re tough to score against,” Okita said. “(Perry-Waikiki) pitched a helluva game, we made some awesome defensive plays when we needed them, and .. that’s baseball. Baseball is a funny game — one pitch here, one mistake there … that error in the last inning got things pretty dicey again, but luckily Perry was able to get the job done.
“That guy at bat (Sylvester) was not the guy we wanted up in that situation — that guy is a good hitter. He hit the ball pretty good, but our guy (Miyake-Matsubayashi) just made a play. We’re very fortunate to be here. That (Kamehameha) is a quality team, right there.”