Pitching, defense carry Mid-Pacific

The pitchers change, but the defense stays the same for the Mid-Pacific baseball team.

Brent Sakurai rode a stellar defense to become the latest mound hero for the Owls, allowing only two hits and facing two batters over the minimum in Mid-Pacific’s 7-0 win over Punahou at Hans L’Orange Park on Thursday.

"He did a pretty good job, huh?" Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru said. "He got ahead, a little shaky in the beginning but then he found his command and he was fine after that. He got a little lucky with a couple of balls hit right at people for double plays."

The Owls improved to 7-0 with Sakurai earning three of the wins. He hasn’t given up a run in 17 1/3 innings and has allowed only eight hits. He struck out two batters against Punahou and was bailed out with inning-ending double plays in the second and fourth innings. Punahou’s Nate Higa lined to short for the second double play to strand runners on the corners.

"I was just trying to put the ball in play for my defense," Sakurai said. "My defense did the work. I trust my catcher and everyone on this team."

It helped Sakurai that his team jumped out to an early lead with a run in the second and two more in the third. Mid-Pacific pounded out 11 hits against Punahou, and has outscored its past two opponents 21-4. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Marcus Doi, Daniel Fentriss and Bryce Asao all had two hits for the Owls, who move on to face Saint Louis on Saturday.

"It’s all the hard work," Doi said. "I have been struggling so we just had to go back to the basics. We are all working hard to get the ‘W’ like today and hopefully there will be more to come."

Punahou dropped to 2-5, but this was its first loss by more than three runs. The Buffanblu hit the ball as hard as Mid-Pacific did, but everything seemed to be right at a defender. Punahou suffered a pair of lapses in the field, being charged with two errors. The first run it gave up was unearned. Punahou plays Kamehameha at Hans L’Orange on Saturday at 6 p.m.

"That’s just the season," Punahou coach Kenny Harrison said. "Give credit to Mid-Pac, they are a good team and pitch well and execute but this has been a long season for us so far. We need like a rain dance or a blessing or some Ti leaves or something."

Mid-Pacific scored in the second inning with its usual brand of small ball. Asao got aboard with a single to center and advanced to second when the Punahou second baseman booted a sure double-play ball off the bat of Sakurai. Asao then stole third and scored when Cameron Igarashi lofted a sacrifice fly to center field.

The Owls added two more in the fourth when Doi, their senior captain and No. 3 hitter, led off the inning with a bunt and Fentriss followed with a single to left. Asao moved them up with a sacrifice bunt and Sakurai drove them home with a double to right that Punahou’s Jake Fujimoto tried to make a diving catch on but just missed. The Owls had four hits in the inning, and four more in the fifth to plate three more runs.

Every run after the first was gravy for Mid-Pacific with Sakurai on the hill. Sakurai needed only 82 pitches, 50 of them strikes. Reid Saito shut out Punahou earlier this year and the Owls have won five of their seven games by shutout.

"(Sakurai) just threw strikes," Harrison said. "He wasn’t overpowering. We are aggressive hitters so we are not about taking pitches and when you are around the plate and throw strikes that is going to happen."