KS-Hawaii overwhelms Radford, 8-0

KS-Hawaii's Kyran Kai sprints to third base in the opening round of the D2 state tournament against Radford. Michael Lasquero | SL

Defending state champion KS-Hawaii scored early and often to dominate Radford, 8-0, in the first round of the Division II state tournament.

The Warriors sent their entire lineup to the plate in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back in their opening round victory over the Rams Thursday afternoon at Hans L'Orange Park.

KS-Hawaii moves on to take on unseeded Kauai Friday in a 10 a.m. semifinal at Les Murakami Stadium at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Three different pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts to help the Warriors shut out Radford, the Oahu Interscholastic Association runner-up. Starting pitcher Tai Atkins fanned eight batters against one hit in four innings, Zakaia Michaels struck out three in two innings of work and Kyran Kai had one strikeout in the top of the seventh to seal the deal.

Kai also led the Warriors at the plate, batting 3-for-4 with a triple, double and two runs scored. DallasJ Duarte and Keegan Miura, two 2016 All-Hawaii Division II First Team selections, rounded out the Warriors' leading batters with two hits each.

Jack Dillon was charged with the loss for the Rams. He was tagged for 10 hits and six earned runs on 103 pitches.

Jason Ryan Southard was a thorn in the side for the Warriors' pitching staff, batting 2-for-3 on the day.