Pearl City’s 3-2 win over Aiea on Friday came down to a game ending play at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs that turned back the Na Ali’i on their newly renovated home field. With Aiea’s Bronson Nekomoto in scoring position at second base, the next batter up stroked a liner into left field that was fielded and thrown to cut-off man Davin Kapuras who threw a strike from his shortstop position to Charger catcher Kaleb Nishijo who had sealed off home plate and tagged out Nekomoto who was given the green light around third in an attempt to score on the play and tie the game at 3-3.
The game ending play and win secured the Chargers a playoff berth in the upcoming 12 team Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I Baseball Championship Tournament and a regular season sweep of the Na Ali’i. The Na Ali’i secured a berth earlier in the week with a 4-1 win over Waipahu on Wednesday.
Pearl City and Aiea 2017 OIA Championship Tournament first round match-ups:
Wednesday, April 12
Pearl City (W4) at E5 – 3:00pm
Aiea (W5) at E4 – 3:00pm
Carson Okada pitched a complete game to earn the win for the Chargers. Okada allowed two runs on three hits with five strikeouts and four walks over seven innings on the hill.
Ty Matsunami took the loss for the Na Ali’i. Matsunami gave up three runs on seven hits with one strikeout and two walks in six innings of work. Bronson Nekomoto pitched the seventh inning in relief of Matsunami allowing one hit with two strikeouts.
Christian Onomura came through once again at the plate for the Chargers hiting 1-3 with a homerun, RBI, and run scored.
Terron Kitashima 1-2, triple, run, and Chase Ling, 1-2, triple, and 2 RBI, led the Na Ali'i at the plate.
GO CHARGERS!
@ Aiea 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Pearl City (5-7) 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 8 1
Aiea (5-7) 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 3 2
Leading Hitters:
Pearl City – Matt Aribal 2-4; Christian Onomura 1-3, HR, RBI, run; Cade Halemanu 1-4, 2B, run; Davin Kapuras 1-4, run; Carter Hirano 2-3, RBI; Joey Casarez 1-3
Aiea – Terron Kitashima 1-2, 3B, run; Chase Ling, 1-2, 3B, 2 RBI; Makana Fujiyama-Tauala 1-3
Photo by Domi Nabal
Carson Okada had another solid performance on the mound for the
Chargers. Okada pitched a complete game to earn the win allowing two
runs on three hits with five strikeouts and four walks over seven innings.