Mid-Pacific’s zero in the loss column appeared in jeopardy for the first five innings Friday night.
The 13 runs the top-ranked Owls scored in their final two turns at bat erased any such doubts.
Trailing Punahou 3-2 after five innings, MPI scored six runs in the top of the sixth and eventually turned a tight duel into a 15-3 rout of the Buffanblu at Central Oahu Regional Park.
Nicholas Bottom’s three-run double with one out in the sixth gave Mid-Pacific the lead and the Owls scored seven more times in the seventh while improving to 5-0-1 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball standings.
"A lot of our games have been close and we had to battle, but we’re been through it a lot so we’re getting better at it," said Bottom, MPI’s senior third baseman.
Punahou starter Dylan Combs kept the Buffanblu (1-4-1) ahead early in the evening, holding MPI to two runs on five hits in his five innings on the mound. The Owls caught then blew past the Buffanblu in the sixth and seventh to give reliever Grant Doi the win in relief.
"These guys keep coming back," said MPI coach Dunn Muramaru, noting the Owls’ rallies against Punahou and Kamehameha this season.
After Punahou broke a 2-all tie on Cole Kanazawa’s RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, Tyler Yamaguchi opened the top of the sixth with a line-drive single and went to second when the ball was bobbled in right field. Jarrett Lum, who had sharp singles his first two times at bat, hit a tailing fly ball to left that fell in to score Yamaguchi with the tying run.
"When Yamaguchi hit that double, it made it easy to me to let Lum hit," Muramaru said. "If he only got a single I’d have to decide whether or not I’d bunt him over. So that was kind of a big play."
The Owls loaded the bases and Bottom fell behind two strikes, took a ball, then drilled a line drive into the left-field corner to clear the bases and give MPI its first lead of the night.
"I just trying to get the ball in play and move the runners over. I wasn’t looking for anything too big," Bottom said.
Although he came up with a big hit, Bottom said the Owls were focusing on playing small ball going into the sixth.
"We knew we couldn’t try to do anything too big, not try to win the game individually, just get our runners on and move them over," he said.
The Owls added two more runs with the aid of Punahou errors to take an 8-2 lead and pulled away in the seventh starting with Jacob Maekawa’s two-run triple.
| At Central Oahu Regional Park |
| Mid-Pac (5-0-1) |
001 |
106 |
7 |
— |
15 |
9 |
3 |
|
| Punahou (1-4-1) |
101 |
010 |
0 |
— |
3 |
5 |
4 |
Alex Oley, Noah Sills (3), Grant Doi (5), Pierrce Furukido (7) and Noah Shackles, Evan Suemori (7). Dylan Combs, Jacob Kam (6), Cole Kanazawa (6), Kekoa Viera (7), Mason Donahue (7), Parker Wong (7) and KJ Harrison. W–Doi. L–Kam.
Leading hitters–MPI: Cal Muramaru 2-3, 2 RBIs; Nicholas Bottom, 2B, 3 RBIs; Cameron Igarashi, RBI; Jarret Lum 2-3; Jacob Maekawa, 3B, 2 RBIs.
Punahou: Kanazawa, 3-3, RBI; Beau Branton, RBI; Noah Goss, RBI;
Also
ILH Division I
Saint Louis 10, Pac-Five 0
ILH Division II
Maryknoll 11, Pac-Five West 1
OIA RED WEST
No. 3 Campbell 10, Kapolei 0, 6 inn.
The Sabers rallied with six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to enforce the mercy rule.
Campbell’s Ian Kahaloa gave up two hits and no runs in the win.
| At Campbell |
| Kapolei (1-3) |
000 |
000 |
— |
0 |
2 |
1 |
| Campbell (5-0) |
210 |
016 |
— |
10 |
11 |
0 |
Randon Ruiz, Robby Oliveros (2), Triston Siarot and Mykah Kuratani. Ian Kahaloa and Tryzen Patricio.
W–Kahaloa. L–Ruiz.
Leading hitters–Kapo:Jaryn Bulseco 2b. Camp:Dewayne Sprinkel 2-3, 2b, 2 runs, RBI; Jobe Ibana 3b; Zachary Kapihe 3-3, 3 RBIs.
OIA WHITE
Waialua 10, Nanakuli 9
The Bulldogs picked up three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to edge the Golden Hawks.
Noah Lono-Soares led Waialua’s offense with a double and triple off three hits.
| At Waialua |
| Nanakuli (1-2) |
121 |
500 |
0 |
— |
9 |
9 |
5 |
| Waialua (2-0) |
205 |
000 |
3 |
— |
10 |
10 |
2 |
W–Muniz. L–Lincoln.
Leading hitters–Nan:Lono-Soares 3-4, 2b, 3b. Wail:Dellatan 2-3, 2b, 3 runs.
Also
OIA RED EAST
Roosevelt 1, Kailua 0
SOFTBALL
ILH
No. 2 Punahou 11, St. Francis 1
The second-ranked Buffanblu cruised to a six-inning win over the Saints.
Punahou’s Nicole Nishizawa pitched a complete game for the win.
| At Punahou |
| St. Francis (0-6) |
001 |
000 |
— |
1 |
4 |
2 |
| Punahou (4-2) |
811 |
001 |
— |
11 |
11 |
3 |
Resela Villi, Tiare Guerrero (5), Shaye Simms (6) and Jessica Hudson. Nicole Nishizawa and Sara Buck.
W–Nishizawa. L–Villi.
Leading hitters–StF:Danielle Antolin 2-4. Pun:Shelbie Fujinaga 2-3, 2 RBIs, run; Heaven Wong 2-4, 2 runs; Sarah Sumida 2-2, 2b, RBI, 2 runs; Buck 2b, RBI; Jessica Shimoda 2b, 2 RBIs, run.
