Waimea baseball beats Kapaa, clinches playoff berth for KIF title game

Waimea High School turned Senior Night into a ticket to the league championship, edging Kapaa 3-2 at Hanapepe Stadium and forcing a winner-take-all playoff against Kauai High School next Tuesday at Vidinha Stadium in Lihue.

The title game is set for 6 p.m., and it carries everything Kaua‘i baseball has built toward through two rounds of the Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation season. Waimea finished Round 2 at 4-2 with the victory, while Kauai closed Round 2 at 3-2 and Kapaa dropped to 2-4. The playoff matchup was settled by a coin toss, adding another layer of pressure to a series that already has islandwide stakes.

Waimea needed every bit of Ryker Lee’s arm to get there. Lee worked 6.0 innings, threw 110 pitches, and allowed one earned run on three hits while striking out six and walking six, according to the box score. Waimea finished with six hits and two errors, but it was the pitching performance that preserved the narrow lead after Kapaa kept pushing late.

The Menehune opened the game in the second inning and never fully let go. Ashton Kinimaka-Aranio got into scoring position before Braden Wilson drove him in, and Wilson later scored on an Evan Yamauchi triple. Kobe Correa added another RBI hit to give Waimea enough room to absorb Kapaa’s response. Kapaa scored on a passed ball in the third inning, but Waimea’s defense and pitching held the Red Raiders to two runs.

The result carries extra weight because it puts Waimea back in the same postseason cycle that has defined recent island baseball. The Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation was first organized in 1937 with Kauai High School and Waimea High School, and Kapaa joined in 1946. Last season, Kapaa won the KIF championship playoff over Waimea after a 19-inning title game against Kauai, then advanced to the Hawaii state tournament and finished second in the state. Duke Sardinha was named Coach of the Year, and Kimo Kupihea earned Player of the Year honors.

That history makes Tuesday’s game more than just another spring matchup. Waimea has another shot at the league crown, Kauai is waiting with the Round 1 edge, and one night at Vidinha Stadium will decide which island program keeps its season alive and which one sees it end.