ILH Baseball
Warriors bounce back to hold off Crusaders


  



Thu, Mar 29, 2018 @ [ 3:30 pm ]


FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Kamehameha 0 100210485
Saint Louis 0 0 00300331

W: Lii Pontes    L: Richard Vidal III

STL: Charles Lopez III 2-3 rbi; Richard Vidal III 6.3 IP 4 ER 2 K
KSK: Chaesten Chon 2-3 run rbi; Lii Pontes 7.0 IP 0 ER 9 K


MANOA — Lii Pontes tossed a complete-game three-hitter and Hanu Racoma drove in the winning run in the top of the sixth inning as No. 3 Kamehameha held off Saint Louis, 4-3, in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball game at Les Murakami Stadium Thursday afternoon.

The Warriors rebounded from a one-run loss to fourth-ranked Punahou two nights prior to improve to 7-2-1, while the Crusaders suffered their fourth loss in five games to fall to 3-6.

Pontes, a senior right-handed pitcher, struck out nine and walked three. He threw 109 pitches in his first complete-game outing of the season. All three Saint Louis runs he allowed were unearned.

Kamehameha took the lead on Chaesten Chon's two-out bases-loaded walk that pushed courtesy runner Kalei Kim across the plate in the top of the second.

Chon scored on a Jonny Shimabukuro RBI-single before a balk by Crusaders' starting pitcher Richard Vidal III allowed Mark Liberato to score and give the Warriors a 3-0 lead in the top of the fifth.

However, Saint Louis scored three runs in the bottom of the frame, when Kamehameha committed four of its five total errors. Kupono Soo led off the inning with a single and took second on a Pontes' wild pitch. Noah Tory reached on a fielding error, which allowed Soo to score from second base.

The very next batter, Cole Kashimoto, also reached on an error and Tory scored the second Crusaders' run of the inning before Charles Lopez III's RBI-single scored Kashimoto to tie it at 3.

Kamehameha answered right away in the top of the sixth. Borja got aboard with a leadoff single to left and moved to second on a single by Vince Venenciano. Kala Burnett laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position before Racoma came off the bench to pinch hit for Mattingly Ho.

Racoma hit a 1-1 pitch to shortstop, which allowed Borja to score the go-ahead run from third.

Chon and Shimabukuro each batted 2 for 3 with a walk and an RBI in the win.

Lopez (2 for 3, RBI) was the lone Crusader to pair hits. Micah Mashima drew a pair of walks in the loss.

Vidal allowed four runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings of work and was charged with the loss. He struck out five and walked two in 110 pitches before giving way to Kanoa Meredith.

Pontes improved to 1-1 on the season with a 1.54 ERA, while Vidal fell to 0-4 with a 5.17 ERA.

It was the second game between the teams this season. Kamehameha beat Saint Louis, 3-2, in their previous meeting on March 15.

Both teams continue ILH play Saturday. The Crusaders will visit No. 2 Mid-Pacific at 3 p.m., while the Warriors will meet Saint Francis at 6:30 p.m. at Hans L'Orange Park in Waipahu.





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