Box Score #1
Box Score #2

Hilo, HI -- It was a frustrating day for Academy of Art baseball, as the first game was a close, extra-inning contest that ended with ART U looking back on missed opportunities early on as Hawaii Hilo pulled out a 2-1 walk off win. The second game was one of lost control, as Knights pitchers only allowed two hits but gave up 11 runs in a tough 11-0 loss.

It was slated to be a pitchers duel from the outset, as Zach Mexicano is enjoying his best season for ART U and Hilo starter Jeremy Dela Cruz had won three straight decisions. Both pitchers settled into a groove early, allowing only one hit each over the first four innings, both two-out knocks in the first inning. Niko Leite blasted a double to left-center for ART U, and Joshua Wong had a first-inning single for Hilo.

The Knights struck in the fifth inning, as the Jared DePatto reached on an error by the Vulcans third-baseman. Michael Reyes followed that up with a double to left-center, giving the Knights a rally with one down. Wade Broadstreet then lined a single over the shortstop, scoring DePatto. Broadstreet stole second, and Bryce Hutchings came up next with a bloop single to left, but Broadstreet and Reyes got crossed up, as they both ended up at third base when the dust settled. Zach Babitt then hit a deep drive to center, but the Knights had to settle for a 1-0 lead.

Mexicano got some help from his defense to shut down the Vulcans in the bottom of the inning, as he allowed two hits to start the inning. With Travis Stancil trying to sacrifice the runners over, the ART U southpaw threw one in the dirt that got by the catcher Leite and rolled all the way to the backstop – which at Hilo was about 30 feet – and allowed the runners to advance without having to give up an out.

But Mexicano found his focus and struck out Stancil, and then a head's up play by Broadstreet cut down Tyson Goo trying to score on a grounder to short. With two outs, Mexicano walked the leadoff man to load the bases, and then walked the number-two batter John Abreu to give the Vulcans their run back. But, facing the Hilo third-place hitter Wong, Mexicano found the strike zone when he needed it most, getting a strikeout to end the inning.

In the seventh, the Knights had another golden opportunity after a leadoff double from DePatto. Reyes grounded out to shortstop, moving DePatto to third with only one out, but another baserunning error cost the Knights, as DePatto was picked off at third by the catcher. Two pitches later, Broadstreet hit a deep drive to the Knights' happy zone for the day, the left-center gap for their fourth double of the day that would have scored DePatto easily. But Hutchings struck out against the new pitcher Casey Bohlmann to leave Academy of Art empty-handed once again.

The game went into extra innings, and the Urban Knights had two runners on with only one out in the tenth, but were unable to get that final run home to go ahead against. Unfortunately, the Vulcans were able to get that runner across in the bottom of the tenth. Mexicano went out for the extra frame and walked the first batter, prompting a pitching change to the Knights' closer Ryan Donahoe. The Vulcans sacrificed the winning run to second, and then a passed ball by Leite put him on third with one out. Jordan Murai blooped one into the teeth of the pulled-in defense, but it still fell right in front of a diving Myles Babitt in left, and Hilo took game one by a score of 2-1.

The extra inning contest was a quick one, finishing up in only two and a half hours. Mexicano fell to 2-8, but put up his second consecutive outing with 9.0 innings pitched, breaking his 2011 record of 79.1 innings to sit at 86.2 here in 2012 . He also lowered his ERA to 3.84, which would easily be the lowest ERA in ART U history. Leite, DePatto, Reyes, and Broadstreet all had doubles for the Urban Knights, and Hutchings was 2-for-4.


After Mexicano's effort fell to the wayside, game two went in the opposite direction for the Urban Knights, as starter Nate Gercken gave up three early ones while only allowing one hit. The Vulcans got two in the first inning when Gercken walked the leadoff batter and hit the third-place hitter before giving up a two-run double to first-baseman Steven Riddle. Hilo got another run without a hit in the second inning, as a leadoff walk came around after a sacrifice bunt and two wild pitches, and after two innings the Vulcans were up 3-0.

Gercken would have to leave the game in the third inning due to injury, bringing Kallen Fletcher into the game, who started out picking up where Gercken had left off. Fletcher walked Riddle, hit Johnathan James, and walked Brad Fairweather to load the bases. He got Tyson Goo to fly out, but it scored another run, and the Vulcans were up 4-0 with only one hit.

That trend continued into the fourth inning, when the Knights used three pitchers who combined for five walks and two hit batsmen to give the Vulcans an 8-0 lead, still with only one hit. They added three more in the fifth on a three-run home run by Steven Riddle, only their second hit of the contest.

They would add a third hit in the sixth, but the free rallies by the Knights were enough to sink them, as they walked 10 Vulcans and hit another five. ART U was unable to get anything going on offense, as leadoff man Zach Babitt got the only two hits, both singles.

These two teams will match up again tomorrow at the same time, with the first game starting at 4:00 PM local time, 7:00 PM Pacific time.