Kalani, Weddle shut down Aiea to reach OIA Division I semis

Brian Bautista | SL

As it has all season, Kalani got yet another masterful performance from pitcher Dylan Weddle, this one a 3-0 victory over Aiea in the OIA Division I quarterfinals.

Weddle was efficient to say the least, needing just 66 pitches to record 21 outs. He allowed just two hits and struck out four while walking none.

"Everything was working really well especially my changeup, I could throw it for a strike or get them to swing on it," said Weddle. "It felt really good today."

On the season, Weddle record stands at a perfect 6-0, with a 1.44 ERA and a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio. He's allowed just 29 hits and seven walks in his ten appearances, which translates to a miniscule 0.92 WHIP.

So yes, its pretty safe to say that Kalani's confidence runs pretty high with Weddle on the mound.

And while the Falcons' offense wasn't nearly as prolific as it has been through most of the regular season, the Kalani bats came through for Weddle to the tune of three runs on five hits, one of them an RBI triple by Noa Dane Fujitani in the fourth inning, the only extra base hit of the game.

"Throughout the season we were pretty poor at executing the small things, bunts, hit and runs, moving the guy over," said Fujitani. "so these past couple of weeks we've really worked on it, and this kind of really shows the work we've been putting in."

Aiea just never could get anything going offensively despite starter Aidan Yoshida being nearly as effective as Weddle. Yoshida gave up only one earned run in 6 innings of work. He threw just 86 pitches, allowing five hits, striking out three and walking three.

Outside of Fujitani's RBI base hit, both of Kalani's other runs were scored on errors, one in the third and the other with two outs in the fourth.

As for Na Alii, the visiting team didn't see a runner advance past second base, with a double play retiring the side in the first inning and three straight outs that included a running caught stealing in the second extinguished any hopes of putting runs up on the scoreboard on those chances.

Only one other player reached base in the third on a fielding error, and from that point on, Weddle retired the next 12 hitters in a row to end it.

Next up for the now state tournament bound Falcons is a Friday matchup at Hans L'Orange Field with Pearl City, a 10-3 winner over Moanalua. Aiea can still punch a ticket to Maui with a win over Na Menehune in Friday's fifth place semi.