Waiakea’s jump into the semifinals of the HHSAA Division I tournament was set up by a strategic move or smart gamble by coach Rory Inouye, who saved his ace to duel one of the state’s best pitchers.
In the quarterfinals on Thursday, Makoa Andres pitched six strong innings of one-run ball to spark the Warriors to a 3-1 win over the Surfriders at Les Murakami Stadium.
Waiakea not only beat Kailua, the No. 2 seed and OIA champion, but also roughed up Kailua ace left-hander Joey Cantillo, who signed with Kentucky.
Cantillo went 6 1/3 innings in the loss, gave up three runs (two unearned) on four hits and four walks and struck out six.