The KSM baseball players made their first win of the season yesterday, April 4, 2012, at Ichiro Maehara baseball stadium. The Warriors beat Na Aliʻi with a score of 6-4.

The Warriors started strong right off the bat with 3 points at the top of the first inning. Throughout the game, sophomores Cal Alexander and Maile Santiago, along with junior Tyler Harry and senior Andrew Park-Murray, made several impressive hits.

Harry, who hit a triple, attributed his improvement to dedication during practice, especially this past week.

“At practice, we’ve been practicing our swinging and making contact when we hit. It’s important that we practice well so that it becomes sort of like an instinct when we’re out on the field,” Harry said.

It looked  like Na Aliʻi were catching up towards the end of the game with two points already on the board and two consecutive points in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings. There was one moment in the game that had senior Nazareth Thibodeaux on edge. On the last out, King Kekaulike’s Zane Jarrett hit a ground ball to shortstop Thibodeaux, who then scrambled to get the ball to second baseman Santiago.

Thibodeaux hit two home runs in their most recent game last week and has steadily been making improvements to attain this week’s win.

“That ground ball was really nerve racking. But I’m glad we were able to make it and stay ahead,” Thibodeaux said. “Overall, I think this game had a lot to do with how well we’ve been working together and bonding lately,”

Coach Mark Makimoto said that this win was a great confidence booster for the team. “This is the first game they’ve won out of six in the season. The team has been playing some great baseball, but tonight they pushed themselves even further to get that win,”

The Warriors played against Na Aliʻi again this afternoon at 3:30 and will have another face-off Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Maui High School.