Kailua adds ninth OIA title behind stellar pitching depth

Apr. 27—1/1

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STAR-ADVERTISER / 2019

Friday's crown is the ninth for Kailua under longtime coach Corey Ishigo, and the first since 2017.

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Kaalekahi Kuhaulua and Jayden Hunt combined on a three-hitter as Kailua overwhelmed Aiea 8-1 to capture the Oahu Interscholastic Association baseball championship on Friday night at Les Murakami Stadium.

The crown is the ninth for Kailua under longtime coach Corey Ishigo, and the first since 2017. So many talented teams of yesteryear, but this one had the grit — and pitching depth — to overcome obstacles. When the team sang the alma mater to its large contingent of Surfriders supporters, Ishigo held up both hands — nine fingers to signify the end of the seven-year drought. Ishigo almost couldn't get the words out.

"It's the ninth one. It's the toughest one, the ninth one for us," said Ishigo, whose first OIA title as Kailua's coach was in 2000. "There's so much teachable moments that you have in baseball. Dealing with adversity, going through the ups and downs. Just making them better people in life, in the long run. We have great people on this team. It's different than others. They all have good grades. It's the first year nobody's on academic probation. They're great people off the field."

Kuhaulua allowed just one run, unearned, on three hits with five striekouts and two walks in three innings.

"It means a lot. Battling through this whole season, it meant a lot to us," Kuhaulua said.

Hunt took over in the fourth inning and was nearly unhittable. He allowed just one safety, a double by Bostan Ujimori in the sixth inning, and struck out three of the last four batters he faced. In four innings, he struck out three and walked none. It was a big turnaround from a so-so one-inning stint in the quarterfinal round on Wednesday.

"All that matters is location and throwing strikes," Hunt said. "Fastball, slider, curveball. I told Coach, this is the game. If I'm coming in, we're winning it no matter what. Everyone's got each other's back."

"This season is different from last season," said leadoff hitter Kaimana Burgo, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI triple. "Last year was kind of like getting a taste of what it's like to play in the tournament. This year, we're more experienced. We knew what to do. We knew if we stuck together, we would do good."

Aiea (12-3) had beaten Pearl City 7-3 and Roosevelt 3-1 to reach the title game. Kailua (13-2) defeated Kalani 10-1 and Moanalua 3-1 before meeting Aiea. The championship-game teams had entered the OIA playoffs tied at No. 8 in the Star-Advertiser Baseball Top 10.

"Put us at No. 9," Ishigo quipped.

With a statewide TV audience, and coaches near and far scouting, Kailua was in the spotlight with no way to hide its weapons, though Ishigo noted that he didn't use Rayvin Pagan as a pitcher this week.

Aiea scored in the top of the first inning. Ryen Abe and Brennen Panis drew one-out walks, and Ujimori's groundball to second was shanked by Jiro Ishigo, allowing Abe to score. With Ujimori at second base, Kuhaulua bore down and struck out Shayden Muraoka to end the inning.

From that point on, Na Alii had just three hits.

Hunt was simply overpowering, striking out the final two batters in the top of the seventh.

Sometime down the road, there will be another team get-together with their head coach, who makes a mean teriburger, according to Burgo and Kuhaulua.

"It's my family," Ishigo said. "And I treat them all like my kids."