KAILUA-KONA 鈥� Another day of top-tier keiki baseball took place Friday at Kona鈥檚 William Charles Lunalilo Park.
The semifinals round of the 91直播 Little League Majors State Tournament between Hilo Little League (District 4 champion) and Honolulu Little League (District 6 champion) was the first matchup of the day, with Honolulu escaping with a 7-5 win to advance to Sunday鈥檚 championship game.
Shortstop Holden Close of Hilo launched two home runs and drove in five, but it was ultimately not enough for the island-hosting club. Hilo attempted to fight back after going down five runs in the fifth, but couldn鈥檛 seal the deal.
Hilo scored first after Close hit his first homer of the day to center field in the first inning, driving in two runs to take the early lead. However, Honolulu jumped in front in the bottom of the third inning after catcher Shane Bunag ripped an RBI single down the right-field line, first baseman Hulili Kauhikaua was struck by a pitch and third baseman Bronson Fermahin singled to left 鈥� each scoring one run.
In the following inning, right fielder Evan Crawford hit a home run to center, which drove in two additional runs for the winners. In the fifth, Kauhikaua launched another Honolulu two-run homer to left field.
Hilo got on the board again in the top of the sixth, which drove in three runs. Still, the last-inning effort wasn鈥檛 enough, and Honolulu closed the game to remain unbeaten in the tournament.
Hilo still has another shot at clinching the final spot in the title game, however. With only one loss, the club will be moving to the loser鈥檚 bracket, and will be back in action at 9 a.m. today. If Hilo wins, it will rematch Honolulu for the state crown Sunday.
Leading Honolulu was Bunag, Kauhikaua and Crawford with two hits apiece, followed by Fermahin and Mason Mitani with one each. Logan Brokaw was the game鈥檚 winning pitcher after allowing five hits and two runs while striking out an impressive nine batters. Mitani also briefly pitched.
Close and Conan Fiesta led Hilo with two hits each, followed by Buddy Azevedo and Zayden Gonsalves-Rios with one apiece. Fiesta, Ha鈥榓heo Ahu and Makana Kauhi all shared time on the mound.
In the second game of the day on the loser鈥檚 side of the bracket, Kawaihau Little League (District 1 champion) run-ruled Waipio Little League (District 7 champion) 13-0 in 3.5 innings, out-hitting the competition with 12 hits to three. Kawaihau advanced to play Hilo in this morning鈥檚 semifinals, while Waipio was officially the second team of the tournament to be eliminated.
Kawaihau鈥檚 offensive outburst came at the bottom of the second inning, when the All-Star squad scored nine runs. Second baseman Kholten Panui, center fielder Alakai Fernandez, third baseman Isis Basuel and pitcher Kahekili Inanod logged two hits each. Teammates Kepa Koga (left fielder), catcher Zhaijhen Dela Cruz, shortstop Liwai Nakea-Tresler and first baseman Bubba Kuhaulua each had one base hit.
Inanod was Kawaihau鈥檚 sole pitcher, allowing just three hits and no runs while striking out three.
Waipio, which ended the tournament with a 1-2 record, was led by catcher Maddox Mamuad, pitcher Damon Avery and right fielder Zion Kaai with one hit each. In addition to Avery on the mound, Bryce Tanaka and Jeremiah Aribal pitched.
See Monday鈥檚 paper to read the final results of the tournament.