SUNDAY, JUNE 21, 2015 | WEST HAWAII TODAY
5B
“Both teams came out and
played hard,” Hilo head coach
Jay Hatayama said. “Kona has
a good team and they battled to
the very end. Both games pretty
much came down to the last
at-bat. It was stressful.”
The opening game was a
back-and-forth battle that saw
Hilo take an early 6-0 lead in
the first inning. Kona jumped
back with six runs in the sixth to
go up 8-7. Hilo answered with a
run in the bottom of the inning
to tie the game.
In the bottom of the seventh,
Hilo’s Keawe Kawailima pinch
hit and singled to left. He stole
second and then scored on a sin-
gle to right by Kaikua Kokubun
for the walk-off win.
“Our big boy Kaikua came
through in the clutch and hope-
fully he will keep doing it,”
Hatayama said.
In the second game, Hilo
again jumped out to an early
lead but Kona scored three runs
in the second inning for a 4-3
advantage. Hilo answered with
three runs in the third, two each
in the fourth and sixth to go up
10-6.
In the bottom of the sixth,
Kona’s Taven Hiraishi singled
to center with one out. After
the second out, Keanu Alokoa
also singled to center, bringing
up pinch hitter Evan Elarionoff.
Elarionoff sent a Hekili Robello
pitch over the right field fence
for a three-run homer to make
it a one run game.
Allowing a big home run can
unnerve a lot of pitchers but
Robello settled down and struck
the final batter out to end the
game by the time limit with
Hilo on top.
“It’s a page out of Cal State
Fullerton’s book that when bad
things happen they have to flush
it, let it go and focus on the next
play, and that is something we
focused on all through practic-
es,” Hatayama said. “It just goes
to show how much composure a
10-year old kid can have.”
The opening game was much
closer than the final score indi-
cated, as Kona pulled away late.
The west side team jumped out
to a 2-0 lead in the first inning
when leadoff hitter Kainoa
Jones walked. Two outs later,
Isaac Kaku stepped to the plate
and sent a pitch over the left
field fence for a two-run home
run.
Kona added three runs in the
second, one in the third and
one in the fourth to go up 7-0.
In the bottom of the fourth,
Hilo scored all five of their
runs to make it a two-run ball
game, but Kona added a pair
of insurance runs in the sixth
inning to hold on for the win.
The second game was a
blowout as the bats came alive
for the west side team. Kona
spread its runs out, scoring
one in the first, four in the
second, five in the third and
two in the sixth to win by run
rule.
Jones scored three times
for Kona after reaching base
on a walk and two singles to
left. Noah Furchner also had
a multi-hit day and scored two
runs.
Kona will now advance to the
state tournament which will
start on June 26 in Hilo.
MUSTANG:
Robello settles down, seals series with strike out
BRONCO:
Bats come alive for Kona in second game
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
Jacob Gomes has a number
of landmark birthdays ahead of
him. But he could have a tough
time coming up with a more
memorable one than the day he
turned 11.
How better to celebrate than
with a two-out, walk-off double
after a spotless relief appearance?
Gomes delivered both Saturday
on his birthday as the Hilo All-
Stars rallied to beat Aiea, Oahu,
4-3 to remain in title contention
at the state Little League tour-
nament for ages 9-10 at Central
Oahu Regional Park.
“I told Jacob before the at-bat,
‘What a better time to do it?’ ”
coach Baba Lancaster said.
Hilo will face Pearl City in a
rematch on Sunday morning,
with the winner advancing to
Monday’s title game against
undefeated Kihei. The Maui
squad beat Pearl City 8-5 on
Saturday has would have to be
beaten twice to be denied the
championship.
Hilo fell behind 3-0 against
an Aiea team it pasted 21-2 on
Thursday as it struggled to come
through with key hits, stranding
11 runners through five innings.
Trailing 3-2 entering its last
at-bat, Legend Lancaster led
off with a hit up the middle
but was erased on a sacrifice
bunt attempt by Ezekiel Gragas.
Xiage Lancaster’s line drive was
caught, and Aiea elected to walk
Wailele Kane-Yates – who had
tormented Aiea with eight RBIs
in the team’s first meeting – to
put runners on first and sec-
ond. Gomes made Aiea pay with
a double off the wall, his first
game-winning hit in what was
Hilo’s 39th game this season.
Birthday boy drives in winning run for Hilo on Oahu
BY MATT GERHART
HAWAII TRIBUNE-HERALD
