Pressley, hitters deliver as Roosevelt downs No. 10 Kaiser
Mar. 21—Xavier Pressley was on call Wednesday afternoon.
Xavier Pressley was on call Wednesday afternoon.
The Roosevelt senior knew he might pitch against No. 10-ranked Kaiser, most likely as a third arm, maybe a closer. Instead, he went to work in the second inning and went 52 /3 innings in relief as the Rough Riders outlasted the Cougars, 13-8.
Roosevelt improved to 3-1 in the OIA East, while Kaiser dropped to 3-1. The Rough Riders took advantage of spring break, showing up at their field for extra batting practice.
"We started this from 10 o'clock this morning, " said coach Samee Teixeira, who also threw the batting practice session. "We got a good BP in. We got fed lunch by the moms, and we jumped on the bus. We were focused. We got here and the intensity rolled. They played the Rough Rider song and I said, 'If you're going to play that song, you have to back it up.' "
Pressley was one of the only pitchers in the game who consistently found the strike zone. He allowed three runs on four hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. He realized plans were changing when pitching coach Chris Nakasone approached him.
"My fastball was working pretty good in the bullpen. Slider was kind of iffy. It showed in the game, but it worked out in the end, " said Pressley, a 6-foot right-hander. "You've just got to lock in. Hope for the best. Know your defense got your back."
Kaiser missed pitcher Poata Pratt-Faitu, one of its top three starting hurlers. He had seven strikeouts and three walks in four innings against Castle last week, permitting one run on four hits for the win. However, he got a rest day due to an illness and a tender arm, Kaiser coach Joshua Halemanu said.
"The first three games, we rode four guys (on the mound ). We didn't have Poata today, " Halemanu said of the sophomore. "We had to try some other guys today. I felt like we were pushing (the starters ) a little too much, so we gave them an extra day. We have faith in all our guys, just weren't hitting their spots today. That happens."
The Cougars used four pitchers who combined for eight walks and two hit batters.
Tokujiro Wada-Goode led Roosevelt's attack, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored "Just staying locked in, focusing on one goal. Hitting hard, making contact, just like all our boys, " the junior said. "See ball, hit ball. Just try to hit nice line drives. Nothing crazy."
After trading unearned runs on infield errors in the first inning, Roosevelt got the edge in the second frame with six runs. Travis Terayama had an RBI single and Kila Teixeira socked a two-run double. After Wada-Goode socked a run-scoring single, Roosevelt had 5-1 lead.
Jackson Wood relieved Gavin Knopp and threw two wild pitches, and walked Luke Tuasivi and Brayden Higa. Riki Uyeno walked with the bases loaded, scoring Wada-Goode from third base. Wood then plunked Brayden Moy, forcing Tuasivi home for a 7-1 Roosevelt edge.
Kaiser responded with four runs in the bottom of the second inning. Jesse Shinagawa slapped an RBI single, and Noah Sham belted a two-run triple to deep left. Davin Oshiro's single to center brought Sham home, cutting the lead to 7-5. Pressley replaced starting pitcher Matthew Chung.
Roosevelt then scored five unanswered runs for a 12-5 lead.
After retiring seven batters in a row, Pressley surrendered two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
The home team added a final run in the bottom of the seventh. Zach Ho led off with a single and eventually came home on a sacrifice fly by Caleb Hamasaki.
"We've got to take care of the next two games, We have Kailua and Moanalua, so no slouch games, " Teixeira said. "Celebrate today and it's back to work tomorrow."
Kailua, Roosevelt and Kaiser are tied for first place in the OIA East.
