Connor Zalewski threw a two-hitter and the Kalani defense stepped up to beat Moanalua, 2-1 to remain unbeaten in the OIA East. Steve Erler | SL

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WAIPAHU— Behind Connor Zalewski and a strong defense, tenth-ranked Kalani held off Moanalua, 2-1 in an Oahu Interscholastic Association doubleheader nightcap at Hans L'Orange Park on Saturday night.

"Moanalua has been a thorn in our side every year even when these guys were JV, they couldn't beat them. To beat them twice in the same year, that's pretty good," said Kalani coach Shannon Hirai.

The Falcons improve to 7-0 in the OIA East standings, while Moanalua dropped to 5-2—both losses came at the hands of Kalani.

Zalewski went the distance and threw a two-hitter and struck out four.

"Connor has been pitching outstanding and it kept us in the game," said Hirai.

"I was thinking the whole game and thinking ahead of the batters. Throwing what they're not expecting, I did make some mistake pitches, but the main thing against a team like Moanalua is to mix up speeds and trust your defense," said Zalewski, who improved to 4-0 as a starter.

Tanner Inouye walked Zalewski and Kekoa Gabriel came in as a courtesy runner. Inouye struck out Bronson Matsumoto, but Peyton Awaya singled to right field and Harrison Moy hit a two RBI double to give Kalani a 2-0 lead in the second inning. This was the only offense the Falcons mustered all game.

Tanner Inouye who pitched six innings did his best to keep the Falcons off balanced. He threw five strikes and walked two and allowed two hits. The Na Menehune defense did its best to back up their pitcher—Jarred Soriano had a nice grab in the left field to take away Kyle Sasano's deep ball to end the fifth inning.

"Tanner did that to us and we're lucky to scratch runs. All season our hitting has been here and there. Tonight we came out with a big double with runners on base. Hitting wise we haven't peaked yet," said Hirai.

Moanalua scored their only run in the third inning off of Kalani's miscues. Mark Kitano-Maguire reached on an error by Reece Kakugawa and later stole second. Zalewski caused Dilan Capusang to fly out to center field. Tyler Trim reached on error that allowed Kitano-Maguire to score, but was tagged out as he was running to second.

The Na Menehune got singles from Jarred Soriano and Trim in the fifth and sixth innings, but could not capitalize.

It was a defensive struggle as both teams stepped up their fielding. But in the end, it was Kalani that bent but didn't break.

Kalani's defense made plays when they needed to. Reece Kakugawa layed out to take away Randy Tabura's grounder in the first inning.

"Our defense held up," said Hirai. "We moved Reece to second knowing that Moanalua might bunt and Hunter played third for us last year so we put him back at third."

"It's important for the defense to step up and every game I pitched has been a close game so it's important for the defense to make the simple plays. The defense played well," said Zalewski. "Reece made a good play and it could've saved a run."

Kalani will host Kaimuki at Kahala on Mar. 30 while Moanalua looks to get back on track as they take on Kailua at the Surfriders' field on the same afternoon.