Pearl City picked up a big win on Sunday after defeating Nanakuli 10-3 at the 2014 Hawaii Little League District 7 Majors Championship Tournament played at Pride Field in Kapolei. Pearl City (1-1) and Nanakuli (1-2) found themselves in a must win situation to keep their hopes alive to advance in the tournament as they both battled through the losers bracket.
Pearl City jumped on Nanakuli early scoring eight runs in the top of the first inning to take a commanding 8-0 lead. Nanakuli came back and scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning and picked up another run in the bottom of the third inning on a solo homerun shot to center field by Kaimana Savaiinaea. Pearl City picked up two runs to pad their lead at 10-3 in the top of the sixth inning.
Brandon Sarae pitched a great game for the win tossing 5 2/3 innings before being relieved by Blaise Torres in the top of the sixth inning due to Sarae reaching the maximum pitch count allowed.
Nanakuli starting pitcher Lexsen Kunukau pitched the first inning before being relieved by Austin Souza who went the rest of the way.
Nanakuli's Kaimana Savaiinaea displayed his exceptional power at the plate with a solo homerun blast in the bottom of the third inning.
Pearl City moves on to today's match-up with MKH scheduled for 3:00pm at Pride Field. The winner will face Ewa Beach on Tuesday with the winner of that contest moving on to face undefeated Waipio (3-0) Wednesday, July 2, 3:00pm at Pride Field. Waipio finds themselves in the drivers seat with their next opponent being tasked to beat them twice for the championship title in the double elimination format tournament.
Sunday's Scores:
Pearl City 10
Nanakuli 3 (eliminated from tournament)
MKH 5
Waialua 4 (eliminated from tournament)
Waipio 2
Ewa Beach 0
Scoring Summary
Top 1st
Pearl City lead off batter Brandon Sarae gets hit by a pitch by Nanakuli starting pitcher Lexsen Kunukau. Sarae advanced to second base on a steal. Next batter Koamana Rosa walked. Sheldon Yamura walked to load the bases with no outs. Next batter Blaise Torres struck out. Sarae scored from third base on a pass ball at the plate. Pearl City took a 1-0 lead with one out in the inning. Next batter Jaydon Tomas walked to load the bases. Chase Sampaio hit a grounder to the shortstop who flipped it over to second base but the throw was bobbled by the second baseman allowing Koamana Rosa to score from third base. Sampaio made it safely on first base to load the bases once again with one out. Yamura scored from third base on a pass ball at the plate. Pearl City went up 3-0. Next batter Shaden Yamura walked to load the bases. Nanakuli made a pitching change bringing in Austin Souza in relief of Kunukau with the bases loaded and one out in the inning. Makana Canyon hit an infield grounder scoring Tomas from third base. Canyon made it safely to first base to load the bases. Next batter Ethan Kitamura lined a two RBI double to center field scoring Sampaio and Shaden Yamura. Lead off batter Brandon Sarae stepped up to the plate for the second time in the inning and made contact scoring Kitamura from second base but lead runner Canyon who was on third base got trapped between third and home and got tagged out on the play. Kitamura beat the throw at the plate to score Pearl City's seventh run of the inning. Sarae made it to second base and advanced to third base on a pass ball at the plate. Sarae scored on another pass ball at the plate to give Pearl City a commanding 8-0 lead.
Pearl City 8 Nanakuli 0
Bottom 1st
Lexsen Kunukau hit a one out single to left field off of Pearl City starting pitcher Brandon Sarae. Next batter Keaka Barrozo stroked a double to center field moving Kunakau to third base. Nanakuli put runners in scoring position on second and third with one out in the inning. Next batter Kaimana Savaiinaea struck out for the second out. Shayden Pojas reached first base on a throwing error that also scored Kunukau and Barrozo on the play. Next batter Austin Souza walked. Next batter popped up for the third out. Nanakuli scored two runs on two hits with one runner left on base.
Pearl City 8 Nanakuli 2
Bottom 3
Kaimana Savaiinaea powered a one out solo homerun over the centerfield fence.
Pearl City 8 Nanakuli 3
Top 6
Brandon Sarae reached first base on an infield grounder with one out. Koamana Rosa hit a double into center field moving Sarae to third base. Pearl City had runners in scoring position with Sarae at third and Rosa at second with one out in the inning. Sarae scored from third base on a pass ball at the plate. Rosa moved up to third base. Next batter Sheldon Yamura drove in Rosa from third base with a hard hit RBI double into center field. Chase Sampaio hit a sac grounder moving Yamura to third base. Jaydon Tomas struck out for the third out. Pearl City scored tow runs on two hits with one runner left on base.
Pearl City 10 Nanakuli 3
@ Pride Field in Kapolei
1 2 3 4 5 6 F
Pearl City (1-1) 8 0 0 0 0 2 10
Nanakuli (1-2) 2 0 1 0 0 0 3
*Nanakuli is eliminated from the tournament with the loss to Pearl City.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Brandon Sarae earned the win for Pearl City pitching 5 2/3 innings before being relieved by Blaise Torres
in the bottom of the sixth inning due to the maximum pitch count rule being enforced.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Blaise Torres pictured in relief of Brandon Sarae in the top of the sixth inning.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Lexsen Kunukau got the start for Nanakuli. Kunukau is pictured on the mound in the top of the first inning.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Austin Souza entered the game in relief of Lexsen Kunukau in the top of the
first inning.Souza is pictured on the mound in the top of the fourth inning.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Kaimana Savaiinaea launches a solo homerun over the centerfield fence in the bottom of the third innning.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Ethan Kitamura connects on a two RBI double to center field scoring Chase Sampaio and
Shaden Yamura in the top of the first inning. Kitamura also scored from second base in the inning.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Pearl City's Brandon Sarae also tore it up on the base paths with
multiplestolen bases and runs scored in both the first and sixth innings.
Photo by Barry Villamil | [email protected]
Great job Brandon in leading your team to victory!