Waianae wins OIA D2 baseball championship over Radford, 11-1

BY MICHAEL LASQUERO | HSRN
PUBLISHED APRIL 27, 2024

HONOLULU — Can’t spell Waianae without the ‘W.’

The Waianae baseball team dominated Radford in the OIA Division II championship game in a mercy-rule 11-1 victory Friday night at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Seariders (11-2) used an eight-run burst in the third inning to claim their seventh overall league title, their first since 2017.

“This is for our people right here, we wanted it from the beginning,” said Shysten Nagasako, the ‘Yeah U Player of the Game.’

Waianae entered the league tournament as the third seed after dropping a pair of extra-inning games to Kapolei and Kahuku in late March. The Seariders have gone on a nine-game winning streak since then.

“We never let that get us down,” said Waianae coach Ben McQuown, who became the sixth different coach to lead the Seariders to an OIA title.

“We told ourselves this is what we are playing for right there, the OIA championship. We are not playing for the regular season. We are playing for the postseason. I’m super proud of these boys.”

McQuown, a 2008 alumnus of Waianae, added that the win meant a lot for the community.

“It’s just something for our team and our community to be proud of. Not a lot of good things have been said about Waianae in the past year, so this is something that we can be proud of, a little shining light for our community.”

Nagasako led the way in the win going 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and the first two RBIs of the game. He also pitched in all five innings while striking out five and walking none.

“Just throw strikes, don’t let no runs, no walks affect me,” he said. “Hitting wise, put the ball in play, battle, and everything will fall into place.”

Radford outhit Waianae in the game, 6 to 5, but the Seariders were able to cash in on eight total walks.

Zyon Telles registered two hits to lead the Rams (6-7) in the loss.