Baseball Post-season Hopes Still Alive For Four West Teams
For Aiea, Campbell, Pearl City and Waipahu high schools, the “Second Season” has arrived. With the OIA baseball playoffs set to begin this week, MidWeek Islander takes a look at the post-season resume for all four teams.
Division II
Waipahu
Season record: 10-0 H
ead coach Milton Takenaka
Signature wins: Kalaheo (11-6) at home March 31; Radford (9-1) at home April 13; Radford (10-6) on the road April 14.
Next up: Waipahu will host an OIA White Conference semifinal at 3:30 p.m. Friday versus the winner of Thursday’s first-round matchup between the Kaimuki Bulldogs and the Waialua Bulldogs.
Players to watch: Dylan Sugimoto, Drake Yoshioka, Jarinn Afaga-Abreu, Micah Luke, Matapua Tulafale, Tyler Enos, Justin Padilla, Joshua Maglangit.
Marauders at a glance: Waipahu breezed through its regular season, winning all 10 games by the average score of 12-2. They even overpowered previously unbeaten Radford Rams to sweep a doubleheader from the Rams in the regular-season finale for both clubs.
Waipahu has scored more runs this season (127) and given up less runs (25) than any team in the OIA (including Division I and II).
Division I
Aiea
Season record: 6-6
Head coach Scott Kato
Signature wins: Waianae (4-3) on the road March 17; Pearl City (7-5) on the road March 21; Leilehua (5-4) on the road March 31.
Next up: Aiea will play a first-round road game at Castle at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. The winner advances to a second-round meeting at Pearl City Thursday.
Players to watch: Tyler Agtang, Trevor Ling, Keanu Arke, Kaulana Wong, Brett Tanonaka, Patrick Villanueva, John Woodin, Daylan Pajimola, Lewai Manoa.
Na Ali’i at a glance: Aiea opens the playoffs this week looking to rediscover its touch after closing the regular season with four straight losses.
Aiea is seeking its first state tournament appearance since 2008.
Campbell Season record: 7-5 Head coach Rory Pico Signature wins: Pearl City (3-1) at home March 27; Waianae (4-3) on the road March 31; Aiea (10-1) on the road April 7.
Next up: Campbell will host a second-round game at 3:30 p.m. Thursday versus the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between the Leilehua Mules and the Kaiser Cougars.
Players to watch: Aaron Taoy, Aaron-Craig Higa, Kenan Sadanaga, Cody Academia, John Baptista, Larry Paas, Ian Kaopua, Bronson Ancheta-Maeda, Albert Talaroc, Josh Lorenzo.
Sabers at a glance: With wins in seven of their last nine games, the Sabers closed out their regular season with as much momentum as any team in the state in Division I. Defense and pitching have carried them during their run, as they yielded two runs or less in seven of those encounters.
The Sabers are seeking their first state tournament appearance since 2010.
Pearl City
Season record: 7-5
Head coach Mitch Yamato
Signature wins: Aiea (3-2) on the road March 7; Campbell (7-6) at home; Mililani (5-4) on the road March 15; Waianae (14-3) at home March 24.
Next up: The Chargers will host a second-round playoff game Thursday versus the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between Castle Knights and Aiea.
Players to watch: Tyler Tokunaga, Reid Akau, Tanner Tokunaga, Kamalu Neal, Sean Milan, Matt Tsutomi, Tyler Hazama, Sumi Pruett, Noah Derby and Jason Komoda.
Chargers at a glance: Defending state champion Pearl City has been to the OIA title game in each of the past four seasons (winning it in 2008, 2009 and 2010), and it has high hopes once again this week.
Like the rest of its Red West counterparts, close encounters have been the prevailing theme for Pearl City, which has been involved in seven one-run games (they are 4-3). The Chargers are 7-3 when scoring three runs or more.
