HILO, Hawai`i—Much of Hawai`i Hilo 10-game baseball winning streak has had its improbable moments, and Saturday's pair of wins over Holy Names certainly fit the bill.
The Vulcans rallied for four runs in the bottom of ninth in the opener to edge Holy Names 5-4, and then survived a one hour and 45-minute rain delay in what turned out to be a true nightcap to win, 11-4.
Those were the ninth and tenth victories in a row for the Vulcans, who improved to 20-15 on the year and to 16-10 in the Pacific West Conference. Holy Names is now 14-21 overall and 8-14 in the PacWest. The two teams will meet again on Monday in a doubleheader slated to begin at 3:30.
The first game was owned by the visiting Hawks for the first two hours and 30 minutes. The second game didn't end until 11:40 p.m.
Holy Names ace Garrett O'Callaghan was cruising, no-hitting the Vulcans through the first four innings. His teammates got the Hawks on the board against Vulcan ace
Dylan Spain with single runs in the third and fourth innings to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
In the fifth, the Vulcans got their first hits and first run against O'Callaghan. Consecutive hits by
Dylan Sugimoto,
Kyle Yamada and
Casey Yamauchi, followed by a sacrifice fly from
RJ Romo pulled the Vulcans to within one run, 2-1.
But that's all UHH would get against O'Callaghan, who came into the game with a 2.03 ERA. He would leave in a winning position in the seventh, scattering six hits in 6.2 innings and allowing only one run. He fanned six Vulcans and walked two.
Additionally, the Hawks added another run in the eighth to take a 3-1 lead. Spain shut down the HNU in the ninth, leaving the Vulcans with one last chance. With O'Callaghan out, they had their chance.
With one out,
Jaryn Kanbara started the quest with a single. Sugimoto doubled and pinch-runner
Brett Komatsu scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-2. Yamada followed with a double to score a run (4-3), and Yamauchi did the same to tie the game (4-4).
With Yamauchi on second base, theHawks intentionally walked Romo, but
Kobie Russell singled to load the bases. That brought
Marcus Calamese to the plate, who had pinch hit in the eighth and remained in the line-up at designated hitter. The senior back-up outfielder laced a single to right field, bringing home Yamauchi with the winning run and pushing UHH's win streak to nine.
Spain was rewarded for his endurance and earned the win, improving to 4-1 on the year. He scattered nine hits, allowed four earned runs, didn't walk a batter and struck out five. Yamada, Sugimoto and Yamauchi had three hits apiece, and Sugimoto scored two of UHH's five runs.
In the second game, the teams were almost through two innings, with only one hit and no runs on either side. Then came torrential rains, which ultimately delayed the game one hour and 45 minutes.
When play resumed, the Vulcans got on the board first when Romo singled home Yamada, who had singled. Russell followed with a double to drive in another run and Kamula Neal did the same with a single up the middle. The Vulcans led, 3-0.
UHH starter
Kyle Alcorn stayed in the game after the delay and was impressive through five innings, not allowing a run and only two hits. Enter
Brandyn Lee-Lehano in the sixth inning, who ran into trouble for the first time in his last four outings. Over 1.2 innings, the junior middle relief ace gave up four runs on five hits and walks three (more improbability).
John Kea came on and struck out the next two batters (although one of them reached base on a wild pitch). He took care of the Hawks in the eighth and ninth as well, pitching 2.1 innings, giving up one hit and fanned four.
The Vulcans added four more runs in the bottom half of the eighth and finished with 15 hits in the game. Russell and
Jaryn Kanbara had three of those, and four others had two hits each—Yamada, Neal, Yamauchi, and Romo.
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Ten wins in a row is the most for the Vulcans team since 1992, when they won nine in a row.
