KANE'OHE — The O'ahu Interscholastic Association's Eastern Division baseball race has been a game of inches so far, and yesterday Kailua capitalized on two big plays for a 6-1 victory over Windward rival Castle.

The Surfriders improved to 7-1 in the OIA East, while the Knights fell to 6-1-1.

Kailua's first defeat came last Friday at Kaiser, after a third strike wild pitch led to a five-run inning in a 5-3 game.

"After that loss, we came together more," said senior pitcher Preston Nakata, who combined with Marcus Mathews on a four-hitter yesterday. "We worked hard this week coming into this game, and this was a key win for us."

Castle took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Codey Cabael's single that scored Brandon Gross from second base, but Kailua went up, 2-1, in the fourth inning on RBI singles by Kainoa Uemoto and Mathews.

Later in that inning, with one out and the bases loaded, the Surfriders' Robert DeMarsh hit a sharp grounder to first baseman Cabael, who fired home to catcher Lyle Kitagawa for the force play. DeMarsh barely beat Kitagawa's return throw to first, keeping the inning alive.

Knights co-head coach Joe Tom went out to contend that DeMarsh had run inside the base path to interfere with Kitagawa's throw, but the play was upheld.

The next batter, pinch-hitter Keenan Tanaka, then blasted a bases-clearing double off the wall in left-center field to make it 5-1.

"We would have been out of the inning and it would have been 2-1," Tom said. "It might have been different (if the score was 2-1), but they already had the lead, so they earned the win."

Castle then let a big opportunity slip away in the bottom of the fourth.

With two outs, the bases loaded and leadoff batter Kainoa Tom at the plate, the left-handed Nakata picked off the runner on first with a nifty move to escape the jam.

"We practice that play a lot," Nakata said. "The call came from the bench, but I knew if I made a good move we could get the guy out."

Kailua coach Corey Ishigo agreed the play proved to be a big momentum swinger.

"(Nakata) was struggling in the inning, so we had the play in the back of our mind," Ishigo said. "That was big, because anything could have happened (with the bases loaded)."

Mathews allowed only one hit in three innings of relief, and the Surfriders added a run in the sixth on Zack Akamine's sacrifice fly.

"Kailua took advantage of our mistakes," Joe Tom said. "We blinked in that one inning (the fourth), and it cost us." kailua (7-1) 000 501 0 — 6 7 2

CASTLE (6-1-1) 100 000 0 — 1 4 1

Preston Nakata, Marcus Mathews (5) and Rayner Yokoi; Kainoa Tom, Pulama Silva (5) and Lyle Kitagawa. W — Nakata. L — Tom.

Leading hitters — Kailua: Keenan Tanaka double, 3 RBIs; Mathews 2-3, RBI; Kili Vierra 2-3. Castle: Silva double.

OIA WEST

'AIEA 11, WAIPAHU 0

Randy Castillo went 2 for 3 with a double and three RBIs, and Ryan Murakami went 3 for 3 with a triple and two RBIs to power the visiting Na Ali'i past the Marauders.

'AIEA (7-1) 181 10—11 10 2

WAIPAHU (1-7) 100 00— 1 5 8

Blane Higa, Travis Nishida (3), Anthony Tsui (5) and Carson Tsuruda. Tryton Gante, Jarish Komura-Rosete (5) and Kaili Haina. W — Higa. L — Gante.

Leading hitters — 'Aiea: Randy Castillo 2-3, double, 3 RBIs; Bryson Ho 2-4; Ryan Murakami 3-3, triple, 2 RBIs. Waipahu: Gante. 2-3.

Reported by Milton Takenaka

PEARL CITY 6, CAMPBELL 4

Kellen Ushijima had two RBIs and the visiting Chargers took a 6-0 lead after two innings and held off the Sabers.

PEARL CITY (5-3) 330 000 0—6 8 2

CAMPBELL (4-4) 003 010 0—4 8 2

Jason Rasa, Kurt Poentis (5), Bryson Nakamura (6) and Jeff Domingo, Carlton Tanabe (6). Allyn Oliva-Respicio, Blayne Dikito (3) and Cameron Howser. W — Rasa. L — Oliva-Respicio.

Leading hitters — Pearl City: Rorry Nakayama 2 runs; Ryno Acosta triple, 2 runs; Domingo double; Kellen Ushijima 2 RBIs. Campbell: Oliva-Respicio double, 2 RBIs; Sebastian Locquiao 2-4, double, 2 RBIs; Bronson Ellis-Rivera 2-3, RBI.

Reported by Rory Pico

WAI'ANAE 9, LEILEHUA 4

Will Duseigneur hit a two-run homer in the first and Ronald Pickering III added a three-run shot in the fifth to lead the host Seariders.

LEILEHUA (5-3) 011 020 0—4 5 1

WAI'ANAE (7-1) 240 030 X—9 10 2

Desmond Ontai, Jayson Cabalce (4) and Ehukai Woolley. Ka'aina Kalaola-Meyer and R.J Tacgere-Bailey. W — Kalaola-Meyer. L — Ontai.

Leading hitters — Leilehua: Derron Baccay double, RBI. Wai'anae: Barak Holt 2-4, double, 2 RBIs; Ben McQuown 2-4, 2 doubles, RBI; Will Duseigneur 2-3, 2-run homer; Ronald Pickering III 3-run homer.

Reported by Kekoa Kaluhiokalani

KAPOLEI 13, WAIALUA 1

Michael Sanchez pitched a three-hitter and batted 3 for 3 for the Hurricanes.

WAIALUA (1-7) 000 10— 1 3 5

KAPOLEI (6-2) 420 7X—13 12 1

Arthur Hernandez and Lokahi Herrod. Michael Sanchez and Michael Kahalehoe. W — Sanchez. L — Hernandez.

Leading hitters — Waialua: Shayne Peiler solo homer; Reggie Carillo 2-2, double. Kapolei: Kalani Brackenridge 2-3, homer, 2 RBIs; Aaron Santiago 2-2, homer, RBI; Kahalehoe 2-2, 2 RBIs; Sanchez 3-3, double.

Reported by Tom Ebanez

RADFORD 7, NANAKULI 0, FORFEIT

The Golden Hawks forfeited because they didn't have enough players.

OIA EAST

MCKINLEY 3, MOANALUA 2

Randy Tuley squeezed home Andrew Barroga with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth for the Tigers.

MOANALUA (4-4) 101 000 0—2 8 1

MCKINLEY (2-5) 000 201 X—3 7 0

Keith Kunitake, Jordan Hirata (5), Ethan Isobe (7) and Chris Liu-Saguid. Michael Estes and Kelsen Ganeku. W — Estes. L — Hirata.

Leading hitters — Moanalua: Jay Yoshizawa 2-3; Jared Coloma 2-3. McKinley: Randy Tuley 2-4, RBI; Tilton Kaluna 2-3.

Reported by Lester Higa

KAIMUKI 15, FARRINGTON 11

Jason Hopper's two-run double spiced a nine-run fifth that helped the Bulldogs win their first game.

FARRINGTON (0-8) 100 241 3—11 12 5

KAIMUKI (1-7) 031 290 X—15 13 10

Diamond Pedro and Brysn Segundo. Masahi Kimura, Daren Muramoto (6) and Daren Marumoto, Ian Delizo (6). W — Kimura. L — Pedro.

Leading hitters — Farrington: Paul Manligot 2 runs; Pedro 3-4, double, 2 runs; Brandon Tuzon 2-5; Segundo 2-5; Dio Labayog 2 runs. Kaimuki: Delizo homer, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Muramoto 3-4, 3 runs, 2 RBIs; Chauncey Nicola 2 runs; Jason Hopper 3-4, 2 runs, 3 RBIs; John Miyasato 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Jeff Vilayvong 2-4; Deon Togami 2-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs.

Reported by Duke Chinen

KALAHEO 4, KAHUKU 4

The Mustangs scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score at 4, and after the inning was over, the umpires called the game because of darkness.

KAHUKU (2-6-1) 100 210 0—4 5 2

KALAHEO (2-6-1) 010 001 2—4 7 1

RJ Van Ness and Kaika Sasaoka. Talon Wentle, Richard Preza Hanes (5) and Steven Vega.

Leading hitters — Kahuku: Kevin Van Ness 3-3, double. Kalaheo: Kyle Okumura 2-3; Preza Hanes 2-2; Wentle triple.

Reported by Tim Lierman

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.