For the third time in a week, West Zone Champions Mililani, Hawaii faced off against West Zone runner-ups Placentia, CA, this time for a spot in the championship game of the Mustang-9 World Series on July 30.
Placentia lost the previous two meetings to powerhouse Mililani who went undefeated in the tournament bracket leading up to the semifinal game, but looked to strike early for a ticket to the championship game.
Placentia’s Bryan Serna opened the game with a walk before inducing a fly out and two straight strikeouts to prolong dealing with Mililani’s hot bats. The team then got hot early themselves when Justin Kang singled and Tucker Hunnicut grounded out to drive Kang in.
Mililani proved how they got to the semifinal with such dominance, however, when they began the second inning with a walk and two singles by Eriz Passi and Trycen Kaimiola to score the team’s first two runs, taking the lead. A passed ball led to Passi scoring from third but Serna struck the final batter out to end the inning, limiting the damage (3-1).
Ryeder Takahasi picked up where he left off, forcing two groundouts and a fly out to end Placentia’s second inning, but Serna would not be overshadowed, striking out two and forcing a groundout, getting himself out of a bases loaded jam.
As great as Serna pitched, Placentia could not provide run support early as Takahashi struck out the side.
Serna’s outing ended as he hit his pitch limit, bringing Jacob Vasquez in who himself attacked the zone but a run was scored off an error on a dropped pop fly, adding to Mililani’s lead. Vasquez struck Jonah Brub, however, to end the inning (4-1).
Placentia began their half of the inning with a double and a single by Andrew Green and Tucker Hunnicut which drove Green home. A groundout by Kemuel Zhang forced an out at first and drove Hunnicut home, cutting Mililani’s lead to one run before the inning ended (4-3).
Hunnicut came in to pitch and worked as well as Placentia’s two previous pitchers did, getting three outs and allowing only one walk before ending the top of the fifth.
Vasquez hit a hard ground ball and beat the throw to make it to first before stealing second and then third off a wild pitch, putting the tying run on third without any outs, but a great throw home and a better tag by Kaimiola punched Vasquez out at the plate. Excellent baserunning by Ty Ayala provided the tying run as he stole third and then beat the tag at the plate by the skin of his teeth. A fielder’s choice ended the inning, sending the game to the sixth (4-4).
Mililani opened the sixth by working a walk, sending Hoshio Oyama to steal second and then third off a balk by Hunnicut and then home from a sacrifice bunt by Joey Katana, putting the team in the lead again. Hunnicut got the final out of the top of the inning but not before Mililani took the lead, forcing Placentia to score or go home.
Deagan Kawahakui took the mound for Mililani and struck the first batter out on the minimum, the second on four pitches and the third on five in a masterful outing, earning him the save.
Mililani defeated Placentia for the third time, earning themselves a spot in the final game of the tournament against Tijuana, Mexico on July 30.
For more information, visit mustang9worldseries.org and see the box score here.