Baldwin inches past Kailua, will face top-seed Kamehameha next

Rayden Aoki | SL

Kaden Anderson and Kip Watanabe combined on a three-hitter to lead Baldwin to a 3-1 win over Kailua in the opening round of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Division I Baseball Championships at Iron Maehara Stadium.

The Bears scored two runs in the top of the fourth to break the scoring seal, as Devyn Rosagaʻs leadoff double got things going, eventually resulting in the gameʻs first run as pinch runner Eli Nouchi and Laakea Ko came in to score on a Kaedyn Miyake-Matsubayashi single. Two Surfridersʻ fielding errors in the inning proved costly.

Kailua closed to within a run in the sixth as Brandon Moore doubled to center to bring home Ryce Aoki.

An insurance run for Baldwin in the seventh came via a Marley Sebastian single that scored Miyake-Matsubayashi, who got aboard via a one-out single.

Anderson, the winning pitcher, went four strong innings, allowing just one hit, walking two and striking out two in just 55 pitches. Watanabe finished up the final three innings, allowing one run on two hits, with a pair of walks to go along with a pair of strikeouts to earn the save.

Baldwin was led by Miyake-Matsubayashi and Kai Watanabe, who both collected two hits each against Kailua. Miyake-Matsubayashi also scored once and drove in a pair of runs.