The ILH powers are playing like there are judges to impress.
With Punahou (13-2), Kamehameha (13-2) and Mid-Pacific (12-2) already assured spots in the state tournament, the Buffanblu made their case for the ILH baseball title with a 17-4 pounding of Pac-Five on Saturday at Hans L’Orange Park.
Mid-Pacific followed with an 8-0 drubbing of Damien in the second game of the doubleheader.
Punahou closes the regular season on Thursday against Saint Louis, while Kamehameha plays Damien the same day. Mid-Pacific has two games left — vs. Maryknoll on Thursday and Saint Louis two days later. If all three teams win out, there will be a playoff for the ILH championship and the seeded state berth. Because of the number of rainouts earlier this season, there will be no third-place tournament. That leaves Saint Louis, Damien, ‘Iolani and Pac-Five to play spoiler.
“I’m just glad we are in,” Punahou coach Kenny Harrison said. “Our goal was to get into the state tournament and 1, 2 or 3, it doesn’t matter. We are just glad to be in, from there it is 0-0.”
The Buffanblu used five pitchers on senior day, with all of them except Mark Ogata holding Pac-Five scoreless. David Torigoe started and pitched two innings, Jesse Crabtree bailed out Ogata in the third and Cole Kanazawa and Dylan Combs each pitched two hitless innings. Combs had only one previous appearance on the mound this year.
“Our plan was to get everybody in today,” Harrison said. “It was senior day, we tried to get as many pitchers in there as possible, ran into a little stumbling block, but our team is resilient and relentless when we have to do what we have to do.”
Pac-Five gave Punahou the adversity it was looking for when it scored four runs in the third to erase a 3-0 deficit and chase Ogata from the game. Devyn Teruya, Brayden Yabuki, Joseph Choy and Jared Osaki had RBIs in successive at-bats after loading the bases on a hit and two errors.
The Buffanblu responded in the fifth inning with nine runs on six singles and four walks. Everyone in the lineup scored for Punahou in the inning except Zak Muenster. Kainoa Harrison scored twice.
Punahou added five more runs in the seventh inning, long after the scoreboard stopped working.
Punahou got hits from eight different players, led by Jason Rosen’s 3-for-4 effort with four RBIs. Harrison and Muenster also had three hits each. Beau Branton was 2-for-4 with a pair of walks and three RBIs from the leadoff spot.
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At Hans L’Orange Park
| Punahou (13-2) |
210 |
090 |
5—17 16 3 |
| Pac-Five (3-11) |
004 |
000 |
0— 4 3 3 |
David Torigoe, Mark Ogata (3), Jesse Crabtree (3), Cole Kanazawa (4), Dylan Combs (6) and Kainoa Harrison. Micah Witty Oakland, Devyn Uyeki (5), Chris Andreyka (7) and Joseph Choy, Ryllen Abeshima (6).
W—Kanazawa. L—Witty Oakland.
Leading hitters—Pun: Beau Branton 2-4, 3 RBIs, 2 BB, 2 runs; Harrison 3-5, RBI; Jason Rosen 3-4, 4 RBIs, 2 runs; Tyler Loui 2-4, run, RBI. P5: Brayden Yabuki 1-3, RBI, run.
Mid-Pacific 8, Damien 0
Daniel Fentriss and Trey Saito combined to help the Owls shut out the Monarchs.
Fentriss added a pair of RBIs and Nikolas Alarcio added two more. Cal Muramaru went 3-for-3 from the ninth spot in the order.
Fentriss limited Damien to three hits in his five innings and Saito only yielded one hit in his two innings.
At Hans L’Orange Park
| Mid-Pacific (12-2) |
020 |
141 |
0 |
— |
8 |
13 |
0 |
| Damien (4-10) |
000 |
000 |
0 |
— |
0 |
4 |
3 |
Daniel Fentriss, Trey Saito (6) and Marcus Doi. Lyle Alloy-Glover, Tristan Florentin (6) and Alan Mohika.
W—Fentriss. L—Alloy-Glover.
Leading hitters—MPI: Nikolas Alarcio 2-4, 2 RBI; Bryce Asato 2-3, RBI, run; Cal Muramaru 3-3, RBI; Fentriss 2-4, 2 RBI. DMS: Mohika 2 BBs.
