The Pearl City Chargers are on a roll with their sights set on winning out the final two games of the regular season in the OIA Western Division and securing a first round bye in the OIA Red Division Championship playoffs.
Pearl City (7-3) knocked off Mililani (5-5) on Saturday behind the pitching and hitting of Kamalu Neal who went the distance and also contributed at the plate hitting 2-3 in the Chargers 9-6 win over the Trojans.
Neal pitched seven complete innings allowing six runs on thirteen hits with three strikeouts and no walks. The Trojans had a good day at the plate against Neal but Pearl City's tough defense and ability to manufacture runs on offense kept the Chargers out front after spotting the Trojans a three run lead after an inning of play.
"Kamalu wasn't scheduled to pitch," said Chargers Head Coach Mitch Yamato. "Sean (Milan) had a little tightness in his back. I wanted to come with Sean but I told Kamalu if he wants the game and he said he wanted the game. You know they hit him up pretty good but making the plays and the offensive runs we put up made the difference."
As the Chargers work their way down the stretch, the players are focused on winning out to secure a first round bye in the playoffs. They are also tasked at beating teams that they had lost to earlier in the season during the first round of league play. So far so good with a win over Waipahu along with Saturday's win over the Trojans.
"We told them you gotta win four games to get that sure second seed and finish with a bye and that's what they're going for," Coach Yamato said.. "The first game against Mililani was hard luck. A couple errors here and there. We lost 4-2. It feels good to come back and especially win it at their field."
The Chargers have had success all season long hitting the ball. Getting runners on base doesn't seem to be a problem. Leaving runners on base is an area that Coach Yamato hopes to improve on as they make their way into the playoffs and beyond.
"It shows in the stats that we've been hitting the ball well. Its just hitting the ball at the right time with men in scoring position. They did a pretty good job today but we still left base loaded. That hurts.In the long run when we get to playoffs in tight games we have to execute with that."
The Chargers have a big game this week against league leading Campbell at home on Wednesday. The Chargers lost to the Sabers on the road in the first round in extra innings 4-3. The Chargers three losses this season have been by combined four runs. So far the Chargers have avenged two of the three losses convincingly. They beat both Waipahu (9-3) and Mililani (9-6). A win against Campbell will go long way with regards to continuing to build momentum and confidence as they finish out the regular season against Aiea and head to the playoffs.
"With the losses that we've had the most was by two runs," Coach Yamato commented on the close losses earlier in the regular season. " It was because of errors. It wasn't because of lack of hitting. So if we keep swinging the bat and they keep playing defense we'll be all right. Campbell's a tough team. We had our chances to win. Its not like we got blown out. We had our chances to win. The team feels pretty confident."
Go Chargers!
Scoring Summary:
Bottom 1st
The Trojans jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after one inning of play.
Mililani 3-0.
Top 2nd
The Chargers came back scoring four runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 4-3 lead over the Trojans.
Pearl City 4-3.
Top 3rd
Colby Hirano walked to lead off the top of the inning. Matt Tsutomi hit a single moving Hirano to second base. Kamalu walked to load the bases with no outs. Isaiah Aribal entered the game as courtesy runner for Neal at first base. Kyle Tom walked bringing home Hirano from third base. Pearl City went up 5-3. Mililani starting pitcher Presley Alcover walked the next batter Shaye Higa scoring Tsutomi from third base. Pearl City took a 6-3 lead. Mililani made a pitching change bringing in Cole Nakachi with the bases loaded and not outs. Nakachi struck out Shiloh Baniaga for the first out of the inning. Next batter Dane Kaneshiro was hit by a pitch bringing home Aribal from third base. Pearl City increased their lead to 7-3. Kyle Tom scored on a pass ball at the plate to put the Chargers up 8-3 with one out and runners on second and third. Jason Komoda grounded out for the second out of the inning. Tanner Tokunaga popped out for the third out leaving two runners on base.
Pearl City 8-3.
Top 4th
Colby Hirano led off the inning with a single into right field. Matt Tsutomi walked. Kamalu Neal hit a single to center field. Isaiah Aribal came in the game as courtesy runner for Neal at first base. The Chargers had the bases loaded with no outs. Mililani made a pitching bringing in Christian Namoca in relief of Cole Nakachi. Kyle Tom lined out for the first out. Next batter Shaye Higa popped out for the second out of the inning. Colby Hirano scored on a pass ball at the plate. Pearl City led 9-3. Shiloh Baniaga struck out for the third out.
Pearl City 9-3.
Bottom 4th
Kanoa Wong led off the inning with a single down the third base line. Trevor Inouye stroked a single into left field. Wong advanced to second base. The Trojans had runners on first and second with no outs. Landon Ogomori hit a bunt single to load the bases. The Chargers turned a double play on an infield grounder that allowed Wong to score from third base. Inouye scored on an RBI single by Jensen Kim with two outs. Mililani trailed Pearl City 9-5. Troy Kakugawa flied out to center field for the third out.
Pearl City 9-5.
Bottom 6th
Landon Ogomori led off the bottom of the inning with an infield base hit. Ogomori advanced to second base on a pass ball at the plate. Next batter Ekolu Ramos went down on strikes for the first out. Travis Maekawa grounded out for the second out. Ogomori advanced to third base. Troy Kakugawa drove in Ogomori from third on a hard hit ball to Colby Hirano at shortstop who couldn't make a play. Kamalu Neal picked off Kakugawa at first base for the third out.
Pearl City 9-6.
@ Mililani High School
Pearl City (7-3) 0 4 4 1 0 0 0 9 6 3
Mililani (5-5) 3 0 0 2 0 1 0 6 13 3
Leading Hitters:
Pearl City – Kamalu Neal 2-3; Shiloh Baniaga 1-3, RBI, 1 Run; Colby Hirano 1-3, 2 Runs; Matt Tsutomi 1-2, 1 Run; Tanner Tokunaga 1-4.
Mililani – Landon Ogomori 3-3. 1 Run; Jamesson Madrid 2-3; Travis Maekawa 1-3, 1 Run; Trevor Inouye 1-3, 1 Run; Kanoa Wong 1-2, 1 Run; Beau Winchester 1-3; Ekolu Ramos 1-4, RBI, 1 Run; Troy Kakugawa 1-4, 2 RBI, 1 Run; Kody Yamada 1-4, RBI; Jensen Kim 1-1, RBI.
Pitching
Pearl City IP H R ER SO BB
Kamalu Neal (W) 7.0 13 6 4 3 0
Mililani IP H R ER SO BB
Presley Alcover (L) 2.0 4 8 5 0 5
Cole Nakachi 1.0 2 1 1 1 1
Christian Namoca 4.0 0 0 0 3 1
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Kyle Tom scores in the top of the third inning on a pass ball at the plate with
the bases loaded to put the Chargers up 8-3.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Colby Hirano leads off the top of the fourth inning with a single to right field.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Kamalu Neal strokes a single into center field in the top of the fourth inning
to load the bases with no outs. Neal went 2-3 at the plate against the Trojans.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Mililani made a pitching change bringing in Christian Namoca in relief of
Cole Nakachi in the top of the fourth inning with the bases loaded and
no outs. Namoca pitched four innings in relief allowing no runs, no hits
with three strikeouts.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Colby Hirano scores from third base on a pass ball at the plate in the top
of the fourth inning with the bases loaded and two outs. The Chargers went
up 9-3 over the Trojans.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Jensen Kim rips a two out RBI single into left field in the bottom of the fourth
inning scoring Trevor Inouye from third base. The Trojans scored two runs
in the bottom of the inning to cut into the Chargers lead 9-5.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Trevor Inouye is congratulated at home plate by Troy Kakugawa after
scoring from third base on Jensen Kim's RBI single in the bottom of the
fourth inning.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Troy Kakugawa drives in Landon Ogomori from third base on a hard hit ball to
Pearl City shortstop Colby Hirano who couldn't make the play in the bottom
of the sixth inning. The Trojans scored the final run of the ball game on the play.
The Trojans fell short of the lead to the Chargers 9-6.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Landon Ogomori scores the final run of the ball game in the bottom of the
sixth inning.on Troy Kakugawa's RBI single.