JV baseball takes Lunas 14-4

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Photo by Kainalu Steward

Freshman pitcher Logan Cabanilla-Aricayos throws in the jv baseball game agains Lahainaluna, January 28 in Lahaina. The Maui Warriors won 14-4.

By Kainalu Steward, staff writer

The Kamehameha jv baseball Warriors won back-to-back games, coming off a 5-3 win versus King Kekaulike High School last Wednesday, January 21, and riding the victory momentum into today’s game against Lahainaluna with a 14-4 rout, at the Lāhainā field behind the Lāhainā Recreation Center.

The match began with a good start from both teams, with the Warriors being on top after the first inning. Sophomore Cruz Castillon slowly made his way to the home base with the help of sophomore Cade Harris in the first half. Harris had hit the ball towards left field while Castillon barely made it to second base. The round of singles continued until Castillon found his way to the home plate after a mishap between Lāhaināluna’s pitcher and catcher. Castillon, along with sophomores Kaelo Lindsey and Nevan Watanabe, and freshmen Kainoa Sanchez and Nathan Facuri contributed to the 5-1 start for the Warriors.

“It was a pretty good game. We weren’t hitting so well, but our defense, we were doing pretty good, and our pitcher did really good, and our catcher did really good today,” said freshman Iokepa Supnet, one of three team captains.

Although the Warriors had the momentum throughout most of the first half, the Lunas got their share towards the end of the fifth inning. The home crowd cheered after a piercing hit from the Lunas’ Kaimi Kanaha, down middle field, allowing him and another teammate to reach the home plate, racking up two points in that inning.

“It was a good game, everybody contributed, and pitchers threw strikes. That’s the main thing. We had defense, and they made the plays when they needed to,” head coach Jason Kane said.

The match ended with two more scores from freshmen Supnet and Spencer Keanini touching home plate before closing out the match, with the win for the Warriors.

Although they pulled off a win, the season isn’t over yet. Coach Kane continues to help them improve, especially their “…mental game. They have the skills, they just got to work on the small stuff, the mental part of the game, which, this game, is about 80%.”