OIA Baseball
Pearl City holds off Kaiser, Mililani routs Kailua to set-up all-West OIA Division I baseball final


Kalani Takase | ScoringLive
April 23, 2026, 11:12pm

  

Thu, Apr 23, 2026 @ [ 3:00 pm ]

Pearl City

6

Kaiser

5

FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Pearl City 3 010200682
Kaiser 2 0 20010543

W: Ian Wicklund    L: Colby Taniguchi

KAIS: Case Cannon 2-4 rbi; Colby Taniguchi 6.0 IP 3 ER 2 K
PC: Tytan Takahashi 3-3 4 rbi; Ian Wicklund 4.0 IP 0 ER 6 K




WAIPAHU — The third time was indeed the charm for the Pearl City baseball team. 

Tytan Takahashi batted 3 for 3 with four runs batted in and Ian Wicklund allowed two hits in four innings of relief to help Pearl City hold off No. 3 Kaiser in the semifinals of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I tournament at Hans L'Orange Park Thursday afternooon. 

The Chargers (11-4) picked up their first win over the Cougars (12-2-1) in three tries this season to secure their first appearance in the league final since 2022. 

Pearl City, the No. 2 seed out of the Western Division, handed East No. 1 seed Kaiser its first loss since March 27. 

"We lost to Kaiser in the preseason and then we lost to them in the season, but they were good games. We had one bad inning in both games; both times we gave them seven runs in one inning and that was the difference, but it's nice when you can see teams and you have an idea of who you're facing," third-year Pearl City coach Duane Eldredge said. 

Wicklund alluded to those miscues with his postgame comments Thursday and disclosed that it impacted the Chargers' practice habits in the aftermath of those outcomes. 

"We locked in more on their pitching and we took more ground balls because we kind of defeated ourselves the past couple games (against Kaiser), so we limited errors and that helped us get the win," said Wicklund, who began the game in right field before moving to the mound to start the bottom of the fourth inning. 

It was Wicklund's seventh appearance this season and his fourth in relief. Wicklund entered the game with the score tied at four; the lone run he surrendered was unearned. He faced 17 batters and threw 42 of his 69 total pitches for strikes. 

Wicklund overwhelmed batters at times — he registered six strikeouts, most of them on fastballs — but he also struggled with his command at times, as evidenced by the two walks and two hit batsmen he accounted for. 

"I wasn't hitting spots where I wanted to, but I had to adjust and just find a way to make it work," said Wicklund, who admitted his control with his off-speed offerings wasn't quite there. 

Still, it was enough to keep Kaiser's bats mostly at bay. After the Cougars amassed seven baserunners through the first three innings, they managed just six the rest of the way. 

"His last two games he's throwing real well, so it's a good feeling that we got him now where we would like to get him," Eldredge assessed. 

Pearl City jumped ahead early with three runs in the top of the first. Wicklund pushed across the first run with his RBI-single to score Noah Kawakami. Two batters later Takahashi hit a fly ball to the outfield that was overrun by the right fielder and allowed two more runs to score. 

"When you can jump out to a lead against a team that's beat us twice, it says, ‘hey, you're in this,' so I thought that was huge," Eldredge said. 

The Cougars answered in the bottom of the frame with a pair of runs on Case Cannon's single up the middle that scored Cale Hamasaki and Jackson Wood's RBI-sacrifice fly. 

Pearl City padded its lead in the top of the third, when Takahashi lined an 0-2 pitch back up the middle to score Wicklund. However, Kaiser returned the favor in the bottom half of the inning. 

Hayzen Inouye was hit by a pitch to lead off the Kaiser third and his courtesy runner, Aiden Leong, eventually scored on a double steal. Wood drew a two-out walk and eventually scored the tying run on a wild pitch by Chargers' reliever Chaz Villarin, who logged only one inning of work behind starter Imipono Kala. 

Kala allowed two runs on one hit, walked two batters and beaned three others in two innings. He threw just 32 pitches, which allows him to return for Friday's championship game. 

Pearl City took the lead for good in the fifth. Wicklund was hit by a pitch from Kaiser starting pitcher Colby Taniguchi to lead off the inning. Clean-up batter David Englar then worked an eight-pitch at-bat before he hit a deep fly ball that carried over the centerfielder and easily scored Wicklund from third. Wicklund put himself 90 feet from home by stealing second, then taking third on a wild pitch. 

"I knew (Englar) was on the pitcher and he was going to do his job; He came through in an important spot," Wicklund said. 

Two batters later Englar came in to score off of Takahashi's lined single to right. 

Takahashi, a freshman second baseman, improved his batting average to .500 on the year. In Pearl City's last four games, Takahashi has batted 8 for 12. 

"He's definitely one that's been playing well and clutching up with those big hits. I think one of them was with two strikes, too, so it's nice having a young kid and knowing that we're gonna have him for three more years," Eldredge said. 

The Cougars kept within striking distance by plating a run in the bottom of the sixth. Tanner Kagimoto drew a lead-off walk and later scored on an error when catcher Noah Kawakami's throw to third sailed into left field. However, Kawakami bounced back in a big way in the bottom of the seventh, when he gunned down Cannon trying to take third on a pitch in the dirt. 

Cannon led off the final half-inning with a single through the right side of the infield, then moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Mana Shigehara-Pang. Wicklund was laboring through his fourth inning of work when Kawakami came to his aid by erasing Cannon from the base paths for the second out of the inning. 

"When he threw out the guy at third it took off a lot of stress on me because no runners in scoring position and then I got to work from the windup, so it made it easier on me," Wicklund said. 

Eldredge credited his sophomore catcher for coming up clutch and giving the Chargers some breathing room. 

"He's got an excellent arm and when he's on target he's dangerous and so that was huge," Eldredge said.

But Wicklund wasn't out of the woods yet. He beaned Wood to put him on and allowed him to advance to second on a wild pitch. However, Wicklund got pinch hitter Desmond Cotterell to strike out looking to end the game. 

Wicklund got the win to improve to 2-1 on the year with a 2.16 earned run average. He has recorded 29 strikeouts against 13 walks in 16 1/3 innings of work this season. 

Taniguchi took the loss for the Cougars. He was charged with six runs (three earned) on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts over six innings.

Kaiser was seeking its second straight OIA title game appearance. Instead, the Cougars will play Kailua in the third-place game, 2 p.m. Friday at Hans L'Orange Park. 

Pearl City will face a familiar foe in Mililani when the teams meet in the 6 p.m. championship game that will follow the Kaiser-Kailua contest. 

The West top-seeded Trojans will try for their second OIA crown in as many years after they punched their ticket to the title game with a 10-0 rout of East No. 2 seed Kailua in the late semifinal Thursday night. The game was called in the bottom of the fifth inning due to the 10-run differential mercy rule. 

Mililani, the No. 8 team in this week's ScoringLive Power Rankings, rapped out 11 hits from seven different players and took advantage of four errors by the Surfriders. 

Jonah Parker batted 3 for 4 with an RBI, Knox Marzo went 2 for 3 with two RBI and a run scored and Kameron Pongasi was 2 for 3 and scored twice. Taye Marxen also drove in two runs and drew one of five walks for the Trojans (12-2). 

"Our offense has been missing the whole year, but tonight we finally strung some hits together and had a better approach. I think just being a little more aggressive on pitches that we can handle, so we've just got to keep being aggressive and swinging the bat," Mililani coach Mark Hirayama said. 

Meanwhile, starting pitcher Ezra Ugale limited the Surfriders (7-6) to a single hit. Ugale struck out seven batters, walked one and hit three batters with a pitch. He threw first-pitch strikes to 11 of the 20 total batters and fired 52 of his 81 pitches for strikes.

"It was good, but I think we could be better. He beaned a couple guys and those things could come back to haunt you, so we just got to throw strikes, trust our defense, let them put the ball in play and whatever happens, happens," Hirayama said. 

It was the second straight day that the Trojans held the opposition scoreless and to a single hit. Three pitchers combined on a one-hitter in their 10-0 win over Moanalua that was called after six innings in Wednesday's tournament quarterfinal round. 

Masao Minami's single to short right field with one out in the top of the fourth inning broke up Ugale's no-hit bid. 

Kailua used five pitchers in the loss. Kila Kato was the pitcher of record for the Surfriders. He allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits with one walk in one-plus inning of work. 

Mililani, which graduated 20 seniors a year ago, will be trying for its sixth OIA championship. It defeated Pearl City in the 2022 league final by a score of 6-5. 

"They're always good. They've got a young group that's been pretty effective this year and again, it's about who's going to make the first mistake. We've just got to limit the mistakes and put the ball in play," Hirayama said of the Chargers. 

The teams split the regular-season series. Pearl City won the first matchup back on Apr. 6 at the Trojans' home field, 5-4. Mililani claimed the rematch nine days on the Chargers' turf by a score of 2-1.

Pearl City is seeking its seventh OIA title and first since 2010. 


Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.


IMAGE GALLERY


MORE STORIES

Track and field proposals among those being considered at HIADA conference

Athletics administrators from across the state are gathered at the Hilton Waikoloa Village, where the...

HHSAA inducts 44th class into Hall of Honor

Twelve student-athletes from 10 different schools and representing three of the state's leagues were...

Iolani's Nakanelua garners All-Hawaii Player of the Year honors

Senior setter Bailey Nakanelua was the engine that helped drive the Raiders back to the top of state...

Pearl City's Ngirmidol headlines All-OIA Division II picks

Chargers' setter Marley Ngirmidol named Player of the Year in OIA Division II; Pearl City head coach...

Moanalua sweeps All-OIA East Boys Volleyball top honors

Na Menehune outside hitter Lionel Gannon named Player of the Year and head coach Alan Cabanting named...

Mililani's Kimura named All-OIA West Player of the Year

Senior OH Seth Kimura was joined by teammate Kaito Duranceau on the first team; Trojans' head coach Gabriel...