Sabers Battle Back From A Slow Start In The West
By Jack Danilewicz
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Del.icio.usEven if the Campbell High baseball team wasn’t in the midst of a battle for the fifth and final spot in the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s Western Division, Wednesday’s game with Waianae would still have an asterisk beside it on the Sabers’ schedule.
Indeed, the Seariders’ one-run win last spring over the Sabers in extra innings is not lost on the current Saber team.
“It was a great high school baseball game,” Campbell Coach Rory Pico remembered.
The Sabers hope to add to their log of memorable moments - albeit on the winners’ side of the ledger - starting next week when the OIA playoffs begin. With three wins in their last four outings heading into last weekend, the Sabers had battled back from an 0-3 start in the West to afford themselves a chance at the West’s final spot. A key game with rival Kapolei on Saturday was to go a long way in determining their fate. A Kapolei win over the weekend would have made this Wednesday’s regular-season finale against Waianae (5:30 p.m. at Central Oahu Regional Park) something of a must-win to remain in the race. Campbell had a one-game lead over Kapolei for the final spot heading into that game. The top five teams from the West (and the top five from the East) make the OIA playoffs. (The top five finishers from the OIA’s post-season move on to the Wally Yonamine Foundation State Baseball Tournament, which will take place May 17-20 at Les Murakami Stadium on the University of Hawaii campus.)
“We think we’re playing some of our best baseball, but we know it will get tougher from here on out,“Pico said.“Our No. 1 goal was to make the playoffs, and we knew that would be a good challenge for us because we had lost a lot of key players (to graduation) from last season. Hopefully, we’ll get in.”
Waianae figures to be one of the Sabers’ biggest challenges to date. The West-leading Seariders had taken a 7-1 mark into the weekend, including last Wednesday’s 18-4 win over Kapolei. While the game is tentatively scheduled to be shown live on OC-16, Pico and the Sabers lost a home date with the game being re-assigned to Central Oahu Regional Park.
“It takes away some of our advantage,” Pico said.“We’re used to our own park and how we pitch in it. The wind will be blowing out there, so it will change the way we call pitches.”
Slowing Waianae’s offense figures to be a key for Campbell on Wednesday. In their win over Kaploei last week, the Seasiders tal-lied 13 runs in the first inning alone, including a grand slam by Barak Holt.
“They’re a very good hitting team - they’ll hit home runs if you don’t keep the ball down,“Pico said.“Against them, you also have to make the routine plays. Offensively, we need to find a way to score runs. If we do that, we can be in the game.”
At press time, Pico was unsure who would start Wednesday’s game, but he’s seen the Sabers’ pitching improve in the last month.
“We’ve had more confidence on the mound lately,” Pico said. “They’ve been throwing more strikes, hitting their spots better and keeping us in games. We’re pleased with where we’re at right now.”
Junior pitchers Blayne Dikito and Sebastian Locquiao are among those who have been coming on as of late for the Sabers, complementing the steady play of seniors Kendall Hodson (catcher/pitcher) and Ramsey Sakamoto (short stop). Hodson is a four-year varsity player.
“They’ve been holding us up - morally and physically - on the field,” he said of Hodson and Sakamoto.“At this point in the season you can wear down, especially with a few tough losses, but they’ve taken on the leadership roles. Kendall has been swinging the bat extremely well, and Sebastian has come up with some key hits. We haven’t had just one player (as the team’s offensive leader). From game to game, it (our leader) has been different.”
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