Mililani has relied on its top two pitchers to advance to the semifinals of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA State Baseball Championships.
To win the tournament, the Trojans know the offense is going to have to step up at some point.
Senior Micah Chinen tossed a three-hit shutout and shortstop Justice Nakagawa hit a two-run triple in the sixth inning as the bats woke up late in a 6-0 shutout of No. 3 seed Baldwin on Thursday at Les Murakami Stadium.
Second place in the state tournament each of the past two years, the Trojans (14-3) will play Mid-Pacific in the first semifinal Friday at 4 p.m.
Mililani had scored five runs in 12 innings before stringing together four straight two-out hits in the sixth inning to tack on four more runs against the Bears (12-4).
The Trojans haven’t needed to score more than a run with Chinen and Koa Eastlack throwing back-to-back shutouts, but Nakagawa and the rest of his teammates understand they’ll need to score more to avoid a third straight runner-up finish.
"Our offense has to step up a little but our defense is good," Nakagawa said. "We’ve just got to get in our groove and see the right pitching and hit the right pitching."
Chinen struck out three and didn’t walk a batter. He retired 12 of the last 13 batters he faced after Mililani scored twice in the third off Baldwin pitcher Linden Kanamu, who threw a complete game.
Kanamu put down the first seven Trojans he faced before hitting back-to-back batters with one out in the third. He got the second out before Ryan Kono singled under the glove of the shortstop to score one run and a second crossed the plate on an error in the outfield.
Chinen then took care of the rest.
"Our pitching is very strong and me and Koa know that our (defense) has our back and make them work," Chinen said. "I felt calm and relaxed out there because everything was going our way and we took it step-by-step."
Mililani has led by two runs in the sixth inning of both of its state tournament matchups. The Trojans played in eight games during the season decided by two runs or fewer. With six seniors and three juniors in the starting lineup, the Trojans are well-accustomed to playing in close ballgames.
"We haven’t hit the ball as well as we can all season and haven’t scored a lot of runs so we’ve been in a lot of one- and two-run games," Mililani coach Mark Hirayama said. "Against the better teams where you can’t afford to make mistakes, it’s something that we look forward to is close ballgames."
Leading 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth, Mililani got an RBI single up the middle by catcher Sean Sonognini to increase the lead. Nakagawa followed with a two-run triple and pinch hitter Stewart Okazaki added a base hit to make it 6-0.
Hirayama said it’s the combined effort of each of those players the Trojans will need moving forward.
"I tell these guys I kind of refer back to the (San Francisco) Giants these last couple of years," Hirayama said. "They don’t just rely on one guy. I need a different hero every day."
Second baseman Lane Kashiwamura finished with two of Baldwin’s three hits and was the only Bears runner to reach third base.
| At Les Murakami Stadium |
| Baldwin (12-4) |
000 |
000 |
0 |
— |
0 |
3 |
2 |
| Mililani (14-3) |
002 |
004 |
X |
— |
6 |
6 |
0 |
Linden Kanamu and Orion Miyasato-Farias. Micah Chinen and Sean Sonognini. W–Chinen. L–Kanamu.
Leading hitters–Bald: Lane Kashiwamura 2-3. Mil: Justice Nakagawa 1-3, 3b, run, 2 RBIs.
Kamehameha 5, Hilo 1
Codie Paiva singled home the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh inning and Chance Arakaki added a two-run single for the Warriors (12-7), who advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2009.
Ladd Ah Choy allowed one hit in 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the win. Russell Ragual doubled home the only run for the Vikings (10-5).
Kamehameha trailed 1-0 in the fourth inning when catcher Kekai Rios was suddenly ejected from the game.
Kamehameha appealed the automatic one-game suspension and had it overturned, meaning Rios will be available to play Friday against Campbell.
"Kekai is a senior and we saw him go out and we’re not going to lay off and keep winning to get him back," Paiva said. "Before the season, we pictured getting Campbell in a night game and it’s all coming true. We pulled out the win today and it’s going to be a battle tomorrow."
| At Les Murakami Stadium |
| KS (12-7) |
000 |
010 |
4 |
— |
5 |
8 |
1 |
| Hilo (10-5) |
100 |
000 |
0 |
— |
1 |
3 |
3 |
Joshua Souza, Ladd Ah Choy (3) and Kekai Rios, Dylan Salcedo (4). Joey Jarneski, Kaiden Cox (7) and Joshua Breitbarth. W–Ah Choy. L–Jarneski.
Leading hitters–KS: Matthew Yokota 2-4, run, RBI; Codie Paiva 2-4, run, RBI; Chance Arakaki 1-3, 2 RBIs. Hilo: Russell Ragual 1-2, 2b, RBI.
Mid-Pacific 9, Waiakea 4
Tyler Yamaguchi went 4-for-4 and drove in five runs and the second-seeded Owls advanced to face Mililani in Friday’s 5 p.m. semifinal.
MPI ace Chase Wago struck out eight and gave up 10 hits in a complete-game performance.
Yamaguchi, the Owls’ senior shortstop, drove in a run with an infield single in the third and singled in another run in the fourth to give the MPI a 5-2 lead. After Waiakea scored twice in the bottom of the fourth, Yamaguchi drilled a shot to the gap with two-out in the fifth for a two-run triple.
| At Les Murakami Stadium |
| Mid-Pacific |
101 |
331 |
0 |
— |
9 |
13 |
0 |
| Waiakea |
000 |
200 |
2 |
— |
4 |
10 |
3 |
Chase Wago and Noah Shackles, James Balgas (7). Caleb Freitas-Fields, Bryce Yamashita (6) and Bryce Felipe. W–Wago. L–Freitas-Fields.
Leading hitters–MPI: Jacob Maekawa, 2-4, 3 runs 2B, RBI; Alex Oley, RBI; Shackles, RBI; Tyler Yamaguchi, 4-4, 3B, 5 RBIs; Trevin Tengan, 2B, RBI. Waiakea: Nathan Minami, 2-3; Gehrig Octavio, 2-4, 2 RBIs; Taylor Mondina, 2-4; Freitas-Fields, RBI; Makoa Andres, RBI.
