When it mattered most, ‘Iolani’s ringing drives were muted by the smack of a Mid-Pacific glove.

Twice on Tuesday, ‘Iolani threatened to pull ahead in an early-season matchup between the top two teams in this week’s Star-Advertiser Top 10. Both times MPI outfielders delivered spectacular catches and the second-ranked Owls pulled out a dramatic 1-0 win over No. 1 ‘Iolani at the Raiders’ field.

“Yeah, that was pretty nice,” MPI coach Dunn Muramaru said in a bit of classic understatement.

“You can only hope they just play well, and sometimes you just gotta let them play and if you’re going good things work out.”

‘Iolani loaded the bases in the bottom of the first before MPI center fielder Jet Uechi robbed Zack Kon of extra bases with a diving snag in the right-center gap. After the Owls scratched out a run in the fifth, Kon came up with two on in the sixth and lifted a drive to right. But MPI senior Micah Pi ran it down, securing the catch an instant before crashing into the fence.

“I knew Zack was a good hitter and Jet and I knew we were probably going to get a ball,” Pi said. “Pretty much tracked it pretty well off the bat and I just had to back up my pitcher.”

Senior right-hander Shion Matsushita was the appreciative beneficiary of the Owls’ glove work as MPI improved to 3-0 in ILH play.

“If the defense didn’t make those plays I probably would have gotten pulled out,” Matsushita said. “But the defense backed me up and the bench supported me and I kept going and threw strikes.”

Matsushita struggled with his command with two out in the bottom of the first when he issued two walks in eight pitches and hit a batter to load the bases. But Uechi came up with what ‘Iolani coach Kurt Miyahira called “one of the best high school plays I’ve ever seen,” to end the inning.

“I knew it was shooting the gap and I had to make a play or else three runs would score,” Uechi said. “I just laid out and luckily caught it.”

‘Iolani right-hander Trevor Ichimura gave up seven hits, struck out three and walked one in a complete-game effort and got help from his outfield as well when left fielder Matthew Inaba made a diving catch of a foul fly to end the top of the fourth after MPI loaded the bases.

‘Iolani saw a scoring opportunity erased in the third when a runner stumbled while rounding third, and when the Raiders defense flinched in in the fifth, the Owls pounced to score the game’s lone run.

Jacob Yoshino led off with a single and advanced on an errant pickoff attempt. Kyle Layugan grounded a single into left field and a bobble in the outfield allowed Yoshino to come around with the go-ahead run.

After Pi’s catch protected the MPI lead in the sixth, Matsushita’s day ended with a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh. Layugan, the Owls’ starting catcher, went to the mound and got the first out on a sacrifice bunt and the second on a swinging strikeout.

His third pitch to Shaydon Kubo was in the dirt and snuck between the legs of catcher MacKenzie Higuchi. The freshman scrambled after the ball in time to throw the runner out at third to end the game and give Layugan the save.

For Miyahira, such is life in the ILH.

“It’s a fun league,” he said. “It’s an honor to coach here and represent the school and our kids played their butts off. They’ll be back.”