Kanekoa Texeira Earns All-Star Victory

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Kanekoa Texeira Earns All-Star Victory

Kyle Galdeira
06/25/08

Kanekoa Texeira (Honolulu Sharks, 2007) earned the victory for the Carolina League All-Star squad after holding his California League counterparts scoreless in the eighth inning of the eventual 3-1 victory Tuesday night.

Texeira represents the Chicago White Sox (Winston-Salem), and the right-handed hurler was one of seven former Hawaii Winter Baseball alumni to appear in the Carolina/California League (High-A) All-Star Game Tuesday at BB&T Coastal Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

“It’s tough, playing against the best the California League has to offer, we hadn’t seen any of them play, so (we hoped) our best was better than their best,” said Texeira.

Through 28 innings on the bump with Winston-Salem, Texeira owns a microscopic 1.29 ERA to go with 25 strikeouts and 15 saves as the club’s closer. The 2004 Kamehameha Schools (Kapalama, Oahu) grad and native of Kula, Maui hopes to continue his success as the second half of the season rolls around.

“I’m just hanging on, holding on,” Texeira says. “Hopefully the second half goes just as well as the first half, and I can make it up to Double-A (Birmingham).”

Matt Wieters (Sharks, 2007) went 1-2 with an RBI as Carolina’s starting catcher. Wieters, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2007 draft, leads Baltimore’s Frederick Keys with 14 home runs, 38 RBIs and a .342 batting average.

Koby Clemens, member of the 2006 North Shore Honu squad and son of Roger Clemens, also went 1-2 after replacing Wieters midway through the game. Tyler Chambliss (West Oahu CaneFires, 2007) allowed a hit and walked one through a scoreless of relief in support of the Carolina All-Stars.

Ben Snyder (Waikiki BeachBoys, 2007) started the game for the California squad, and allowed a run on three hits and struck out two through an inning. California League teammate Andrew Johnston (BeachBoys, 2006) pitched in 2/3 of an inning, allowing a hit and striking out a batter.

Infielder Jose Vallejo (CaneFires, 2006) went 0-1 with a strikeout off the bench.