Christian DeJesus tossed 5 1/3 innings of four-hit ball to lead the Warriors past the third-ranked Bears and into Friday's semifinal round of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Division I State Championships. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Purchase image 1 of 71

 

MANOA — Christian DeJesus tossed 5 1/3 innings of four-hit ball to lead No. 2 Kamehameha to a 6-1 win over defending state champion and third-ranked Baldwin in the quarterfinals of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Division I Baseball State Championships at Les Murakami Stadium Thursday evening.

The Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up Warriors improved to 16-6 on the season and 14-3 all-time in state quarterfinals. They will face No. 9 Waiakea in Friday's 4 p.m. semifinal for a chance to advance to their first title game since 2006.

DeJesus, a 5-foot-10 sophomore right-hander, struck out six and walked two in 97 pitches thrown. Baldwin's lone run of the game was unearned.

"I know they're a very good hitting team, so I just wanted to come out, throw strikes and let me defense back me up and see how it goes," said DeJesus, who threw first-pitch strikes to 12 of the 22 batters he faced.

It was the longest outing of the season for DeJesus, who had not gone more than four innings in six previous appearances.

"He put it all out there. He left everything on the field and he did a hell of a job today," Kamehameha coach Tom Perkins said. "It's been one of our goals, I think, trying to get them beyond that third, fourth inning. He just stood tough today. He did a good job."

DeJesus threw 64 pitches for strikes to 33 balls. He limited Baldwin to a single base runner that got past second and stranded two more at second base.

"I think he did an awesome job for us," said Warriors' second baseman Logan Salcedo, who batted 2 for 3 from the leadoff spot. "He pounded the zone, threw strikes, our defense had his back and we couldn't ask for me. He made them put it in play and we made the plays for him."

Kamehameha's defense turned a couple of double plays — both of the inning-ending variety — and catcher Dylan Salcedo threw out a runner attempting to steal second to end the fourth inning.

The Warriors took their first lead on Athan Kuewa's sacrifice fly to left field that brought Hunter Fujitani in to score in the top of the third inning.

Baldwin tied in the bottom of the third when Chase Akaka reached on a one-out single and stole a pair of bags before Kamehameha's lone error of the game allowed him to score.

However, the Warriors responded almost immediately by sending seven batters to the plate in the top of the fourth. They scored three runs in the frame — all with two outs.

Micah Kinoshita reached on an error to lead off the inning and moved over to second on Jesse Awa's sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, Kinoshita scored on Hunter Fujitani's RBI-single back up the middle to reclaim the lead for his team.

Logan Salcedo then looped a 2-1 pitch into short left field to score Fujitani and Kawai Takemura followed with another RBI-single that plated Salcedo to extend Kamehameha's lead to 4-1.

"It was a slider," Logan Salcedo said of the offering from Baldwin starting pitcher Ekolu Watanabe. "He just hung it and right before, when we took a break, (Fujitani) just said, ‘Don't leave me out here,' so I said ‘I got you bro,' and then I just did it."

Watanabe, the Bears' No. 2 starter and a transfer from Kamehameha-Maui, was charged with four runs — two of them earned — on five hits and took the loss. He walked two, struck out two and threw 80 pitches in 3 2/3 innings of work.

The Warriors added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the sixth. Awa led off the frame with a single and his pinch runner, Noah Kim, came in to score on Baldwin's fourth error of the game.

"We didn't play very well defensively and at this level, we have to take care of the ball to stay in games with teams of this caliber," Bears coach Shane Dudoit said.

Logan Salcedo notched his third RBI with his sacrifice fly to score Francis Gora to make Kamehameha's lead, 6-1.

"I was just looking for a fastball up, something I could drive and bring home the runner from third," said Logan Salcedo, who batted in the lead off spot for the second game in a row.

"Today I was a little more comfortable," said Salcedo, who previous batted second in the order. "I made more adjustments and stuff. It's a little different than being in the second spot."

Salcedo, who is batting .400 on the season, has 14 RBI and 15 runs scored on the season. Perkins said he liked what he's seen from his senior second baseman in the last two games.

"He did a great job. When the bottom or the order comes up and we have guys on, he puts the ball in play most of the time, so that's real big for us," Perkins said.

Kamehameha improved to 41-15 all-time in state tournament games.

"Making it to the semifinals is really big for us because this has been our goal the whole season," DeJesus said. "We've always been working hard in practice every day and coming out and doing work."

Baldwin, the Maui Interscholastic League champion and tournament No. 3 seed, fell to 13-3 on the season. It is now 19-20 in quarterfinals and 56-61-4 all-time in state tournament games.

The Bears will play No. 4 Kailua in a consolation game Friday at 4:30 p.m. at Hans L'Orange Park.