Nakakura’s homer carries ‘Iolani past Mid-Pacific

‘Iolani found the missing ingredient it needed to finally beat Mid-Pacific.

All it takes is a little bit of luck.

Corey Nakakura hit a home run over the right-field fence in the top of the sixth inning at Mid-Pacific and the Raiders beat the Owls 2-1 to move one step closer to a state-tournament berth. It was ‘Iolani’s first win over Mid-Pacific in four tries.

"Coach Brent (Shimokawa) always says if it goes out it is a mistake," Nakakura said. "Always try to hit high line drives and I got a little lucky. It felt really good, better than all of the other hits I have had this season."

Nakakura’s shot came two batters after ‘Iolani catcher J.R. Matsuura gunned down Mid-Pacific’s Ryan Murata trying to steal second to end the fifth. ‘Iolani shortstop Christian Donahue yelled "sit down" as he floated past second on his way to the dugout and Murata took offense. Players on both teams gathered on the field to talk about the transgression, but order was restored quickly.

"We lost our cool," Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru said. "That’s about it. We lost our cool."

Mid-Pacific reliever Deric Valoroso forced Donahue to pop to short to lead off the sixth, then threw a ball to Nakakura before giving up the gopher ball.

"He Yahtzeed it," ‘Iolani coach Shimokawa said. "He’s a fantastic hitter, he’s like a baseball gym rat, he is always at the field."

‘Iolani pitcher Javin Nohara got two quick outs in the bottom of the sixth before Brent Sakurai singled and Cameron Igarashi walked on four pitches to put the potential go-ahead run on first base. Nakakura took the hill after that and walked Ryne Saiki on four pitches to load the bases, but stranded all of them by forcing pinch hitter Bryce Nagata to pop out to short right field. Nakakura credits the flare-up the previous inning with helping his team escape the jam.

"We try not to let that stuff affect us," Nakakura said. "But sometimes it just gets into your head. We really wish it wouldn’t have happened, but I think it fueled our fire a little bit."

Valoroso got ‘Iolani in order in the top of the seventh, but Nakakura matched him in the bottom of the inning.

That touched off a celebration by ‘Iolani, which lost to Mid-Pacific by scores of 8-0, 3-1 and 10-9 but overcame them to reach the tournament championship.

"The fire is always there against Mid-Pac," Shimokawa said. "They have an excellent team, we just got the breaks today. We finally got the breaks."

Mid-Pacific opened the scoring in the second inning when Sakurai drew a leadoff walk. He scored when Igarashi tripled to left center.

‘Iolani responded in the fifth when Austin Darmawan drove in Joshua Inouye on a single to center, but Mid-Pacific cut down Kainoa Fong trying to score from second.

‘Iolani (7-7) will play the winner of Tuesday’s game between Mid-Pacific (11-3) and Saint Louis on Wednesday. If the Owls win that one, ‘Iolani clinches a state berth whether it beats Mid-Pac in the tournament championship or not. If Saint Louis wins, the Crusaders would have to beat ‘Iolani twice for the tournament title and the state berth that comes with it.

If Mid-Pacific does not come back to win the tournament, whoever does would have to play the Owls on Friday for the ILH title and seeded state berth.