The Honoka'a Dragons will take on the Hawaii Prep Ka Makani at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Honoka'a sitting on three straight victories and Hawaii Prep on four.
Honoka'a barely beat Kohala the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Dragons blew past the Cowboys 11-1 two weeks ago.
Josyah Umeda and Jayden Salazar made a splash no matter where they played. On the mound, Umeda struck out six batters over two innings while giving up no earned runs or hits (and not a single walk). Meanwhile, Salazar pitched 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.
| 03/22/25 vs Kohala | 4 |
| 03/22/25 vs Kohala | 2 |
| 02/19/25 @ Hawaii Prep | 2 |
In other batting news, Chrys Coelho was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing four bases while going 1-for-3. Honoka'a is undefeated when Coelho posts two or more stolen bases, but 2-3 otherwise. 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.
Meanwhile, Hawaii Prep posted their closest win since February 8th on Friday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-3 victory over Pahoa.
Like Honoka'a, Hawaii Prep also got a great game from a two-way player: Nishiki Iwai. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits while striking out nine over six innings pitched. Iwai 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.
Hawaii Prep's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-2. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Honoka'a, their win bumped their record up to 5-3.
Honoka'a was able to grind out a solid victory over Hawaii Prep when the teams last played back in February, winning 6-3. Will the Dragons repeat their success, or do the Ka Makani have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
