The ILH baseball regular season finally came to an end on Friday.
No. 5 ‘Iolani handed Mid-Pacific a state tournament berth and the top seed in the league’s double-elimination tournament with an 11-5 win over No. 4 Punahou at Hans L’Orange Park.
The Raiders (11-3-1) earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament, with Punahou (11-4) dropping to No. 3 after losing a game that began a week earlier.
‘Iolani held a 7-2 lead on April 13 when the game was halted by rain. It was made up Friday afternoon at Hans L’Orange Park after the game was moved from Ala Wai Field in the morning due to the threat of rain.
Punahou coach Keenan Sue, who had to make up three games this week due to weather, and ‘Iolani coach Kurt Miyahira expressed the same sentiment after Friday’s game.
“Regular season is done. We’ve got the tournament,” Miyahira said. “Turnaround time is quick. Tournament is tomorrow. It’s a brand new season.”
“Everybody is the same,” Sue added. “First seed helps, but whether you are the second or the seven seed, same thing. You’ve got to go out and win games.”
Punahou had a chance to make things interesting when ‘Iolani’s Trevor Ichimura walked in a run in the third inning and brought the tying run to the plate.
Asa Kurasaki hammered a line drive that was snagged in the air by Micah Miyahira at first.
Miyahira cleared the bases in the top of the sixth inning with a three-run double that pushed ‘Iolani’s lead to 11-4.
“I was just trying to get the ball up and get it somewhere in right field,” Miyahira said. “This was really important because it gives us a shot at the state title.”
The ILH will have three teams in the Division I state tournament this year for the first time since 2012. As the No. 2 team in the regular season, ‘Iolani is guaranteed at least a playoff tiebreaker for a state berth, depending upon how the tournament plays out. If ‘Iolani finishes in the top two in the tournament, it will clinch its first state tournament berth since 2013.
The Raiders finished with one fewer win in the regular season this year than in the past three combined.
“It comes down to just trusting what they do and trust what they practice,” Kurt Miyahira said. “They’ve been together for awhile. They know what to do.”
‘Iolani shortstop Shaydon Kubo reached base four times. He doubled and scored in the first inning and walked and scored in the second.
Micah Yonamine added two doubles and three RBIs and Shane Sasaki had two hits and scored twice.
Jake Tsukada doubled, tripled, walked twice and scored three times, and Kalae Harrison went 3-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs for Punahou.
The Buffanblu open the tournament today against Maryknoll, while ‘Iolani faces Pac-Five.
