HONOLULU – The Chaminade University baseball team concluded the 2024 season Sunday with a pair of non-conference defeats to Hawai'i Pacific University at Les Murakami Stadium at the University of Hawai'i Manoa campus.
The Silverswords dropped the matinee, 7-6, as well as the seven-inning nightcap, 9-3.
In almost storybook fashion, seniors
Haruki Kitazaki (Fukuoka, Japan/Northwestern Oklahoma State/Jiyugaoka HS) and
JT Navyac (Kailua, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Cal State Fullerton/Saint Louis HS) both singled in runs in the nightcap, which was also the final games for both.
Chaminade finished its first season after a four-decade absence at 15-33 while HPU ended the regular season with a 30-20 mark which includes a six-game winning streak heading into the Pacific West Conference Championship starting May 8 at Azusa Pacific.
Game 1: HPU 7, CUH 6
A first-inning RBI ground-rule double by
Ryan Ruch (San Diego/Patrick Henry) was Chaminade's only run in the first four innings as they fell behind 5-1.
The 'Swords got two runs back in the fifth when Ruch's grounder plated
Cato Kleinman (Westlake Village, Calif./Monterey Peninsula College/Westlake HS) and an HPU throwing error to try and double off Ruch at first was thrown away, allowing
Aydan Lobetos (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama) to race home.
The Silverswords caught the Sharks in the sixth, thanks to
Jackson Peper (Las Flores, Calif./Tesoro) who doubled in two runs, tying the game at 5. But HPU capitalized on an error in the seventh, allowing Tejean Smith to score the go-ahead run all the way from first base. A sacrifice fly at the next at-bat gave the Sharks a 7-5 edge.
The insurance run proved to be critical in the eighth when
Joe DuCoeur (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho/Lake City) powered his first homer of the year, bringing the 'Swords to within 7-6.
Chaminade managed to get the tying run on board in the bottom of the ninth but a double play ended the game.
Zac Brown (Tustin, Calif./Mater Dei) pitched six innings of relief but suffered the loss while Mac Leisher got the win and Ryan Inoyue the save. Ruch had two of Chaminade's seven hits.
Game 2:
Kitazaki's RBI single in the third got the 'Swords on the board first followed two batters later by
Jaren Banis (Wahiawa, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama) who dropped a hit just inside the right field line for a 2-0 CUH lead. Kitazaki would later be lifted defensively by
Ace Perry (Kaneohe, O'ahu, Hawai'i/University) in the top of the fifth.
But HPU relied on two big innings – a five-run third and a four-run fifth – to get all the scoring it needed.
Navyac gave Chaminade fans a chicken-skin moment in the sixth, driving in a run-scoring single in what proved to be his final collegiate at-bat. Like Kitazaki before him, Navyac was lifted for pinch runner
Kia'i Kawai (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama) for his final curtain call.
Shea Lake got the win for the Sharks while
Derek Augenstein (Vista, Calif./Palomar College/Rancho Buena Vista HS) took the loss. Kleinman had two of the 'Swords' six hits in the finale.
Kitazaki and Navyac were both honored at the end of the game.
