Drake Lee led Pearl City over Waipio 8-2 with a seven inning, complete game performance on Friday, July 5, 2013 at Hans L 'Orange Park in Waipahu. The win advanced Pearl City to the championship title game of the Hawaii Junior Little League District 7 Championship Tournament.
Lee pitched a great game with the support of a strong and talented Pearl City defense and timely hitting at the plate on offense. Lee went the distance allowing two runs on seven hits with four strikeouts. Pearl City fans got a little anxious when Pearl City manager Travis Nishijo made a visit to the mound with two outs in the bottom the seventh inning. With Lee one out away from the win and a complete game seven inning performance, the crowd made it clear that they wanted to see Lee finish the game. That's exactly what he was allowed to do. He put down the next batter for the final out and the win.
In the loss to Pearl City, Waipio sent three pitchers to the mound: Aaron Yamasaki, Vance Miyamoto, and Carson Okada.
Waipio (1-1) will play in today's loser's bracket game against Waipahu (1-1) with the winner to face Pearl City (2-0) on Sunday at 4:00pm in the double elimination format tournament. The loser's bracket winner will need to beat Pearl City twice for the championship title and a chance to represent District 7 in next week's state championship tournament.
Scoring Summary:
Top 1
Waipio starting pitcher Aaron Yamasaki struck out lead-off batter Micah Balderas for the first out. Next batter Wil Cordes got on base with an infield grounder. Cordes advanced to second base on a steal. Yamasaki walked the next batter Drake Lee. Cordes advanced to third base. Pearl City had runners on first and third with one out. Dillin Hasegawa hit an RBI single driving in Cordes from third base. Lee moved up to second base. Next batter Kaleb Nishijo hit a single into left field that loaded the bases. Joshua Kam stroked a 2 RBI double driving in Hasegawa and Lee. Nishijo scored on a pass ball at the plate. Kam moved up to third base. Pearl City took an early 4-0 lead. Yamasaki walked the next batter Nainoa Chun. Chun advanced to second base on a steal. Pearl City had runners on second and third with one out. Next batter Kawika Akutagawa struck out for the second out of the inning. Kam scored on a pass ball at the plate putting Pearl City up 5-0. Next batter Jansen Bigornia walked. Balderas grounded out for the third out.
Pearl City scored five runs on three hits with two runners left on base.
Pearl City 5-0
Top 3
Joshua Kam led off the inning with a single into leftfield. Next batter Nainoa Chun walked putting runners on first and second with no outs. Ethan Momohara struck out for the first out of the inning. The runners moved up to second and third on a double steal. DeShane Stevens struck out for the second out. Micah Balderas hit an RBI single scoring Kam from third base. Wil Cordes flied out for the third out.
Pearl City scored one run on two hit with two runners left on base.
Pearl City 6-0
Bottom 4
Ethyn Muller led off the inning with a single to right field. Kona Respicio followed with an RBI double to deep center field that scored Muller from first base. Next batter Vance Miyamoto popped up to second for the first out. Carson Okada hit a grounder to third base. Respicio took off for third base on the play as was caught in a rundown between second and third. Okada made it safely to first. Jensen Kaya hit a liner to Lee on the mound that was caught for the third out of the inning.
Waipio scored one run on two hits with one runner left on base.
Pearl City 6-1.
Top 5
Joshua Kam led off the inning with a hard hit ball to the shortstop off of Waipio relief pitcher Vance Miyamoto who entered the game to start the fourth inning in relief of starter Aaron Yamasaki. Nainoa Chun dropped in a single into leftfield putting runners on first and second with no outs. Ethan Momohara struck out for the first out. Elijah Turell hit an RBI double scoring Kam from second base. Chun got tagged out at the plate attempting to score on the play. Micah Aribal grounded out for the third out.
Pearl City scored one run on three hits with one runner left on base.
Pearl City 7-1
Top 7
Waipio relief pitcher Carson Okada struck out Kaleb Nishijo to lead off the inning. Okada entered the game in the top of the sixth inning in relief of Vance Miyamoto. Joshua Kam flied out for the second out. Next batter Nainoa Chun walked. Chun advanced to second base on a steal. Ethan Momohara stepped up to the plate and hit a single into centerfield moving Chun to third base. Chun scored from third base on a pass ball at the plate. Next batter Elijah Turell was hit by a pitch. Micah Balderas flied out for the third out.
Pearl City scored one run on one hit with two runners left on base.
Pearl City 8-1
Bottom 7
Jensen Kaya led off the inning with a single. Kaya advanced to second base on a pass ball at the plate. Chad Wakabayashi grounded out for the first out. Kaya advanced to third base. Next batter Matthew Aribal grounded out for the second out. Kaya scored on the play. Drake Lee got the next batter Hunter Mendiola for the third out to end the game.
Waipio scored one run on one hit with no runners left on base.
Pearl City 8-2