Punahou wins pitcher’s duel

The duel of underclassmen went to the older hurler, at least until the next time Punahou and Kamehameha meet.

David Torigoe, a right-handed junior, outlasted sophomore lefty Keenan Lum as third-ranked Punahou earned a 3-0 win Tuesday at Patsy Mink Central Oahu Central Park.

“Kamehameha’s a great team and it was a pitcher’s duel,” Punahou coach Kenny Harrison said. “We have to battle every game and trust each other, pitch to contact. We work a lot on defense at every practice, and we came through with the win. We’re just happy to walk away with a win.”

The recent torrent of rain subsided for a change, and a sunny sky with moderate trade winds greeted the two Interscholastic League of Honolulu title contenders. Punahou improved to 3-0 in league play (8-0 overall) by capitalizing on early errors by the Warriors. Torigoe, a fast worker, got into a rhythm by spotting his fastball and jamming Kamehameha with a sharp slider over the inside part of the plate.

Torigoe pitched shutout ball for six innings, allowing just two hits. He struck out four and walked three. Lum, a 6-foot-2 sophomore, went 52⁄3 innings. He scattered seven hits, fanned four and walked two, giving up one earned run.

“Keenan and I played in a tournament together in Arizona last summer,” Torigoe said, noting that pitching coach Matt Apana called the game. “Knowing that my fielders have my back, that’s the most important thing. I felt pretty good.”

Reliever Nathan Higa moved over from first base to the mound in the seventh. Down three runs, Kamehameha patched together a potential rally. Tyler Meditz doubled to left and William Young singled, bringing Darian Benanua to the plate as the potential tying run.

However, Benanua lined back to the mound and Young was easily doubled off first to end the game.

It was that kind of game for Kamehameha (1-2 ILH, 11-8 overall), which saw a rally in the sixth end with a similar line-out double play. It was the early errors that cost the Warriors most, though, permitting two of Punahou’s three runs to score unearned.

“Those first two innings, we gave away a couple of (unearned) runs,” Kamehameha coach Vern Ramie said. “If it’s a 1-0 ballgame, it’s a little bit different. You pitch differently. If we take care of the ball better, we might have a chance to get (Torigoe) out of the game earlier. You gotta give him credit. He threw a lot of strikes and they played very well defensively. That’s what it takes, especially playing at this field with the wind blowing in, with these BBCOR bats.”

In the top of the first, Beau Branton singled, stole second base and came home on a two-out error at short by Alika McGuire.

An inning later, Tyler Loui walked and advanced to second on a throwing error by catcher Moku Kukonu after Jason Rosen laid down a sacrifice bunt. Branton’s line-drive single to right brought Loui home for a 2-0 Punahou lead.

The Buffanblu tacked on another run in the third when Loui singled to right with two outs, bringing Kainoa Harrison home.

“If the wind isn’t blowing so hard, it doesn’t knock it down,” Ramie said.

Kamehameha had opportunities in the final three innings. In the fifth, Meditz singled, Torigoe issued walks to Young and Benanua, but pinch hitter Trey Kodama struck out looking and Ali‘i Pedrina popped out.

“Coach preaches, ‘You should always rely on your defense,’ ” Torigoe said.

Coach Harrison is enjoying the development of his team, particularly the pitching staff.

“We have a lot of aces. He’s been the quickest to learn Coach Matt’s style of pitching. He’s building his confidence. He always had ability. He’s starting to believe in himself,” he said.

Coach Harrison was well aware of Lum’s prowess.

“He’s another example of a good young pitcher with a terrific upside. It’s just one of those games, if it wasn’t for the errors, it would be 1-0 or 0-0 and still playing,” Harrison said, noting the help of former Cleveland Indians farmhand Kaimi Mead, now a JV coach at Punahou. Mead threw batting practice leading into Tuesday’s game.

“He threw that running fastball and slider, like Keenan’s speed. That helped us prepare well enough,” coach Harrison said of Mead, a southpaw.

Punahou’s attack-first philosophy paid off. Each of its leadoff hitters in the first five innings reached base, and the first three of them scored.

Kamehameha didn’t get a leadoff man on base all game long.

“You have to keep believing in your defense. They got a double play on a ground ball later,” Lum said. “We’ll clean up our mistakes.”

At CORP