The Hawaii Prep Ka Makani will venture away from home to challenge the Honoka'a Dragons at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Hawaii Prep 3.3, Honoka'a 3.2) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Hawaii Prep took a seven-run defeat the last time they faced off against Pahoa, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Ka Makani sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-3 victory over the Daggers on Friday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Ka Makani have posted against the Daggers since March 3, 2018.
Nishiki Iwai made a splash while hitting and pitching. He didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out nine over six innings pitched. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't given up more than two hits in three consecutive appearances. He was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while getting on base in all three of his plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Honoka'a had already won two in a row and they went ahead and made it three two weeks ago. Everything went their way against the Cowboys as they made off with an 11-1 victory.
Like Hawaii Prep, Honoka'a also got a great game from a two-way player: Josyah Umeda. Throwing, Umeda struck out six batters over two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). Meanwhile, Jayden Salazar tossed three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (four). At bat, Umeda scored a run and stole a base while going 1-for-4, while Salazar scored two runs and stole a base while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Chrys Coelho was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing four bases while going 1-for-3. Those two runs gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Issac Derego, who scored three runs and stole four bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Hawaii Prep has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven games. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-2 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.3 runs over those games. As for Honoka'a, their record now sits at 5-3.
Hawaii Prep came up short against Honoka'a in their previous meeting back in February, falling 6-3. Can the Ka Makani avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
