Rain gives title contenders a break

It felt strange enough — Sunday of the final prep state championship weekend and there was no Division I baseball champion to crown.

Rain, rain and more rain made that a certainty on Saturday afternoon at Iron Maehara Stadium in Wailuku. With second-seeded Mid-Pacific and unseeded Mililani in the final, the postponement has worked out better for the two Oahu-based teams and their fans.

Tonight’s 7 o’clock battle in the D-I title game of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Baseball State Championships will be at UH’s Les Murakami Stadium. Fans on Oahu who didn’t have the opportunity to fly to Maui to see the game have the chance to watch it here instead.

The down time provided more rest for pitchers. ILH champion Mid-Pacific (13-4) will probably start ace Trey Saito, coach Dunn Muramaru said. OIA runner-up Mililani (12-7) is likely to go with Kanoa Hironaka, who was superb in an upset of top-seeded Baldwin on Thursday.

Before the rainout on Saturday, MPI was ready to pitch Daniel Fentriss, a 6-foot-4 senior who regularly plays first base. Mililani was about to put catcher Jamesson Madrid on the mound.

“Jimmy is our best catcher and Mid-Pac likes to do things on the bases,” Mililani coach Mark Hirayama said.

Hironaka threw a relatively low 94 pitches in the win over Baldwin.

“We’ll see how Kanoa’s feeling. Tomorrow is his fifth day (since pitching) and he likes to throw every day,” Hirayama said.

The extra time off also gives both coaches relatively fresh bullpen arms. Backing up Saito, if he doesn’t go all the way, will be Brent Sakurai and Fentriss. Sakurai threw just 70 pitches in the victory over Campbell. Beyond those three, Muramaru has depth and talent at the position.

Mililani has Cole Nakachi, Cristian Namoca — the winning pitcher against Waipahu last Wednesday — and Presley Alcover, who started against Hilo on Friday.

Mid-Pacific isn’t about to alter anything. In fact, Muramaru noted that the Owls have had one lineup change all year. On Monday, he planned a normal practice for his squad in the afternoon.

At Mililani, things have been busy for the seniors. Graduation was on Sunday afternoon, which meant those seniors got to fly home on Saturday night, just a few hours after the postponement was announced. Then came the ceremony and all-night Project Graduation.

“I know the guys got home at 7:30 in the morning (on Monday),” Hirayama said.

He didn’t require their presence at Monday’s practice.

“I want them to be rested,” he said.

Clutch hitting has been key. Madrid is hitting .556 (5-for-9) in three tournament games and has an on-base percentage of .667. Sean Sonognini, who began the tourney as a pinch hitter, has started the past two games and is hitting .500 (4-for-8). Sonognini has scored a team-high four runs with two RBIs. Troy Kakugawa, the shortstop/pitcher, is hitting .400 (4-for-10).

As a team, Mililani is hitting .299 in the tournament (23-for-77). Defensively, the Trojans have committed four errors.

Owls shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and second baseman Quintin-John Collier are each hitting .571 with identical 4-for-4 games against Waiakea and matching 0-for-3 performances against Campbell.

Fentriss has as many walks (two) as at-bats, and has been active with a sacrifice bunt and a stolen base.

Marcus Doi, the catcher who has signed with UH, is 1-for-5 so far with two runs, a walk and a steal.

In their two games, MPI is hitting .311 (14-for-45). The Owls defense has yet to commit an error.

Muramaru, who has guided the Owls to four state titles since he became head coach in 1986, has reached the final nine times.

“Mililani is hot right now. Championship games are always highly contested. It’s a one-shot deal — whoever gets the breaks early,” he said. “There’s no excuse. You have to play.”

Hirayama has preached a consistent message to his team all through the playoffs and the state tourney: play good baseball and they can beat anybody.

“Dunn and I go way back. Mid-Pac is not going to make mistakes. They play the right way,” he said.

“We’re honored to be playing against them.”

It is the first appearance in the state final for Mililani. MPI last won the state crown in 2002.