Cape baseball rolls in Hawaii
After winning the first game of its spring break trip in Hawaii, Cape kept the ball rolling with an 8-1 victory over Kapa’a High School.
Luke Johnson pitched three strong scoreless innings for the Vikings, allowing just two hits while striking out three Warriors. Sophomore Ty Husbands relieved Johnson, pitching two innings and picking up the win while striking out three batters. Robbie Baxley came in to close out the game, tossing two innings and allowing a run in the seventh.
The Vikings did the most damage in the sixth inning, scoring seven runs on five hits. Johnson delivered with a double and two RBIs. Matt Newcomb hit a single to score, while Hunter Rauch smacked an RBI single. Grant Evans and Luke Smailer each went 1-for-1 with two walks and a run scored.
“We made all of our plays, and our pitchers did a really nice job throwing strikes to keep their hitters off balance all day,” said Cape head coach Ben Evick. “The wind blowing up the cliff in right field was holding balls in the air up for a long time and just making them drop.”
The Vikings finished their final game of the trip with a 4-2 victory over Kauai High School.
Sean Clendaniel started on the mound for the Vikings, throwing three innings and allowing one run on two hits with four strikeouts. Mason Fluharty threw three innings, allowing just one run with five strikeouts. Vikings junior Mason Carrow closed it out to get the save.
Timmy Vitella, Johnson and Evans each hit a triple in the game and each scored a run. Johnson went 2-for-4 in the game. Baxley also had an RBI.
Cape scored three runs in the fifth inning on two of their three triples.
“Our guys seemed a bit drained today coming into this one,” said Evick. “We’ve had long days, but they picked it up when it counted and made a lot of heads-up plays.”
Vitella picked a runner off second from behind the plate, and Fluharty picked a runner off first from the mound.
“We played solid defense against a team that tried to bunt runners over,” Evick said. “They made a lot of good plays, but we were able to capitalize on a few big hits. We were excited to play well again in a hot sun this afternoon. Afterward again we felt the aloha spirit, as the whole community was there with dinner ready for us and our families. You can really feel how welcoming the people on Kauai are to us.
“We went to the island softball championship, and that was a sight to see, as there were thousands of people in attendance. Our guys are ready for a few days off to enjoy the rest of the trip. These last two games were scrimmages for us, but it was nice to get more playing time against quality teams at this point in the season. We’re ready to come back and get after it for the next few weeks of the season.”
The Vikings return to Chris Short Field Tuesday, April 30, to face Northern Division rival Caesar Rodney.
