St. Anthony, Kauai win semis easily

The showdown is on.

Top-seeded Kauai and No. 2 seed St. Anthony won handily yesterday and advanced into the Division II final of the Wally Yonamine Foundation Baseball State Championships. Game time for the Red Raiders and Trojans is 4 p.m. at Les Murakami Stadium.

Division II State Baseball All games at Central Oahu Regional Park, except the championship game, which is scheduled for Les Murakami Stadium Yesterday Consolation » Konawaena 13, HPA 3 Fifth-place bracket » Kohala 10, Honokaa 2 » Maryknoll 6, Waipahu 2 Semifinals » Kauai 8, Molokai 0 » St. Anthony 11, Kalaheo 5 Today » Consolation championship: Konawaena vs. Kahuku (field 1), 11 a.m. » Fifth-place game: Maryknoll vs. Kohala (field 2), 11 a.m. » Third-place game: Molokai vs. Kalaheo (field 4), 11 a.m. » Championship: Kauai vs. St. Anthony, 4 p.m.

St. Anthony outlasted Kalaheo 11-5 in a game played almost simultaneously with the other semifinal at Patsy Mink Central Oahu Regional Park. Kauai blanked Molokai 8-0 on a gusty afternoon.

Kauai ace Trent Allianic allowed just three hits over five innings. He struck out seven and walked just one before Andrew Renaud finished up with two solid innings in relief.

Kauai (17-3) beat a handful of D-I powerhouses in nonconference play and is No. 8 in the Star-Bulletin Baseball Top 10.

Using a two-seam fastball and a circle changeup, Allianic handcuffed the Farmers, who managed to get a runner past second base just once.

"I knew that they're first-pitch hitters, but they were waiting, so I threw my own pitches," Allianic said. "Only my curveball was affected by the wind."

With gusts up to 20 mph blowing from right field to left, Molokai's defense committed five errors, mostly on pop-ups. All eight runs surrendered by starter Scott Rapanot were unearned.

Aaron Soong, who batted 3-for-4, led the game off with a single and later scored on a wild pitch.

In the second inning, Lanan Rice-Kashima reached on an infield error and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches. Kaylen Wakumoto then blooped a 2-2 pitch into short left-center. Center fielder Joseph Akaka seemed to have the ball in his reach, but backed off as shortstop Kaden Tabil approached, and the ball caromed off Tabil's glove. Rice-Kashima scored easily.

Moments later, Soong singled to left, scoring Wakumoto for a 3-0 Kauai lead.

In the fourth, singles by Tabil and Nelson Rapanot gave the Farmers runners at the corners. However, Kahekili Pa-Kala popped out to end the threat.

Kauai put the game out of reach with a five-run explosion in the bottom of the fourth, aided by two Molokai errors.

St. Anthony 11, Kalaheo 5

Trevor Ventura, Josh Hanson and Aaron Santos shared the pitching load for the Trojans, who were 11-2 in regular-season play. Coach Shane Dudoit was able to save his ace, Northwestern-bound Michael Jahns, for today's title game.

The senior pitched just four innings on Thursday, meaning he could throw a complete game today if necessary.

"Kauai's a tough team," Dudoit said. "We need to execute and have no errors. Coach Hanky (Ibia), I respect him a lot."

Jahns remembers Kauai well. A year ago, in a nonconference game with the Red Raiders, a line drive ricocheted off his right biceps and sidelined him for four days.

"I was really lucky I didn't get hit in the elbow," said Jahns, who went on to lead St. Anthony to the MIL title. For now, the Trojans are pumped up about playing in Murakami Stadium.

"Our team is just ecstatic," he said, recalling last year's disappointment. St. Anthony, with no seniors, lost in the quarterfinal round to Kamehameha.

CONSOLATION

Kohala 10, Honokaa 2

Maryknoll 6, Waipahu 2

Konawaena 13, Hawaii Prep 3