Baseball
Aloha Stars rally for four in ninth to turn back Hawaiian Stars


Stacy Kaneshiro | ScoringLive
July 13, 2024, 6:04am

 



MANOA - Hilo's Legend Lancaster's two out single capped a four-run bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Aloha Stars over the Hawaiian Stars, 10-9, Friday night in the fourth annual Chace Numata Senior All-Star Classic at Les Murakami Stadium.

Hawaiian took a 9-6 lead into the bottom of the ninth with Kailua's Kaimana Burgo going for the save. He retired the first two hitters before Aloha began its rally. Saint Louis' Tanner Chun singled, stole second and scored on a single by Iolani's Cole Yonamine. Kamehameha-Hawaii's Kaohu Kawela reached on a fielding error by the second baseman to put the tying run on base.  KSH's Dominic Christensen then reached on a fielder's choice grounder to third, but Yonamine beat the third baseman to avoid the force and load the bases. King Kekaulike's Jaxon Wong lined a single to center to drive in two to tie the game at 9. After a double steal, Lancaster hit a liner up the middle that clipped the shortstop's glove to score Christensen with the winning run.

"It's an awesome feeling," Lancaster said. "I had some nerves going into that AB, but three-two count, I knew a fastball was coming so I sat on it and ripped it."

It was Lancaster's second hit of the game and his game-winner landed him MVP honors for the game.

"It felt amazing," Lancaster said of his team's rally. "We never gave up with our team spirit and we just knew we could battle back.

Leilehua's Koen Barton was named the Pitcher of the Game. He struck out all three batters he faced. The 2023 ScoringLive All-Hawaii Pitcher of the Year labored this past season with a 1-2 record and a 7.00 earned run average. 

"I was working hard trying to fine-tune my stuff to just get back to being a good pitcher again," Barton explained of his success in the game despite struggling through his senior season for the Mules."

Barton, who signed with the University of Hawaii-Manoa, said he had issues with his mechanics during his senior year.

"My arm action was really long," Barton explained. "So I was trying to shorten up and try to throw athletic again, like an infielder, and keep the game simple.

Both players received gift packages from sponsors.

Except for a few glitches, the batting lineups saw 18 batters instead of nine. Most pitchers threw an inning. Only Kauai's Joshua Rego and Waialua's Davin Almeida pitched 1 2/3 and 1 1/3 innings, respectively.

The game also featured a "pop-time" contest for catchers. Moanalua's Dawson Sugawa won a catcher's mitt for posting the best time.

Hawaiian took a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI single by Moanalua's Brandon Deth. But the Hawaiians broke open the game by sending 12 batters up in a seven-run fifth. Moanalua's Connor Dempsey had a two-run base hit, while Campbell's Kayne Carlos and Waipahu's Chase Maruyama followed with RBI singles. Barton drew a bases-loaded walk to force home another run and the next seventh run scored on fielder's choice grounder to make it 8-0.

Aloha began chipping away from the sixth, when it scored its first run on a wild pitch. It added three more in the seventh on Baldwin's Christian Dominno's two-run double and sacrifice fly by Hilo's Dylan Villanueva.

Aloha got two in the eighth on a fielder's choice grounder by Waianae's Shysten Nagasaki and sacrifice fly by Saint Louis' Kolby Gushiken to set up the team's big ninth inning.

The game honors the memory of Chace Numata, a 2010 graduate of Pearl City High. He was a 14th-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Phillies before landing in the Detroit Tigers organization. Numata died in 2019 from injuries in a skateboard mishap while he was playing for the Tigers' Double-A team, the Erie SeaWolves. He was 27.

The game was special for Moanalua's Kaiden Sonoda-Fukumoto. One of his youth league coaches was Nathan "Homey" Numata, Chace's father. When he was seven, he took a picture with Chace, who playing in Clearwater, Florida, in the minor leagues in 2016.

"The main thing that I remember about Chace is to enjoy the moment," Sonoda-Fukumoto said. "He was always the guy, good vibes, good energy, enjoying what he was doing, so I tried to pick up off of that and put that into my game."

Sonoda-Fukumoto was grateful to play in the game that remembers his favorite player.

"It's amazing," said Sonoda-Fukumoto, who caught the ceremonial first pitch from Chevas Numata, Chace's brother. "Very honored, especially since I know him so well. He was like my older brother. All in memory of him."

For the first time, the game was broadcast on radio by Hawaii Sports Radio Network.

The game was sponsored by SportStan Sporting Goods and Palace Saimin.


Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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