The Crusade continues, but Saint Louis needed every hand on deck to make it so on Saturday.
Saint Louis used both of its aces and got clutch hits from the bottom third of its order to fend off ‘Iolani 10-6 in the ILH baseball tournament on Saturday at Central Oahu Regional Park.
Saint Louis, which won the regular season, advances to play Mid-Pacific on Tuesday. ‘Iolani takes on Kamehameha in an elimination game the same day.
Jacob White said he had been in a "huge slump" to begin the year, but broke out of it right when the Crusaders needed it on Saturday.
"I started off slow and I was kind of down," White said. "But I knew there was plenty of game left and wanted to go in with a plan like my coaches say and help my team."
‘Iolani pulled ahead 2-1 in the top of the fourth on a double by Christian Donohue and a single by Pikai Winchester, who went 4-for-4 in the game, and went into the dugout believing that two runs against Saint Louis ace Jordan Yamamoto would be enough. The Crusaders showed the folly of that idea the next time they grabbed the bats.
Saint Louis plated six runs in the bottom of the fifth, getting three walks and a single to tie it with the bases loaded and one out.
Then White strode to the plate and broke it open.
"(White) was huge today," Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. "I’m so happy for him, he struggled a little bit over the course of the year and we had to take him out of the lineup based on matchups, but he remained positive and came through. But that has evolved. Right now, if he is going to hit like that we can’t take him out."
White, who struck out with a man on in his previous at-bat, bounced a 3-0 pitch through the middle of the infield to drive in two runs. Brendan Ushima followed with a hit-by-pitch and No. 9 hitter Tanner Atiburcio doubled. Another run came home on a squeeze by Rayson Romero and Saint Louis led 7-2.
But ‘Iolani rallied with four runs in the top of the sixth with consecutive singles by Max Look, Austin Jim On and Donohue to chase Yamamoto and send scouts to their rental cars. Pono Anderson yielded a single to Winchester to charge Yamamoto with two more runs before getting out of trouble and ‘Iolani was back within one run, 7-6, with three more outs to play with.
White, Ushima and Romero singled home runs in the bottom of the sixth for the Crusaders, and Anderson let two runners reach before closing out the Raiders on a grounder to second by Look. Saint Louis has won three of four against ‘Iolani this year, two of those games by one run.
"I thought we could hold them down when we were up 2-1," ‘Iolani coach Brent Shimokawa said. "We had the momentum, but they took it right back. You have to give Saint Louis credit for putting the ball in play and putting pressure on our defense."
| At Central Oahu Regional Park |
| ‘Iolani (7-6) |
000 |
114 |
0 |
— |
6 |
11 |
1 |
| STL (13-3) |
010 |
063 |
x |
— |
10 |
8 |
3 |
Ezra Heleski, Reid Kimura (4), Reece Arakawa (5), Kainoa Fong (5), Austin Jim On (5), Corey Nakakura (6) and Joshua Inaba. Jordan Yamamoto, Pono Anderson (6) and Ryder Kuhns.
W–Yamamoto. L–Fong.
Leading hitters–Iol: Max Look 2-5, R; Christian Donohue 2-4, 2B, RBI; Pikai Winchester 4-4, 3 RBI; 3B; Matt Campos 2-4. StL: Jacob White 2-4, 3 RBI.
ILH DIVISION II
Maryknoll 6, Pac-Five West 5
Jarin Kobashigawa singled to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning to help lift the Spartans past the Wolf Pack.
| At Central Oahu Regional Park |
| P5W (4-12) |
010 |
130 |
000 |
— |
5 |
6 |
3 |
| MRYK (13-3) |
211 |
001 |
001 |
— |
6 |
12 |
4 |
Matt Reynolds, Kenan Cooper (4), Robert Baker (6) and Reyn Romero. Chase Uyema, Joshua Muneno (5) and Neal Nakasone.
W–Muneno. L–Baker.
Leading hitters–P5W: Jeremy Nakashima 2-4, run; Ricky Costa 2b, run 2 RBIs. Mryk: Kahi Hirano 2-4, 2b, 2 runs; Michael Nishiki 3-4, run; Jedd Andrade, run; Jarin Kobashigawa 2-3, RBI.
Damien 11, St. Francis 5
Zachary Navas pitched a complete game, striking out four batters and allowing only three hits as the Monarchs defeated the Saints.
| At CORP |
| Damien (8-8) |
112 |
021 |
4 |
— |
11 |
16 |
4 |
| StF (7-9) |
200 |
030 |
0 |
— |
5 |
3 |
4 |
Zachary Navas and Gavin Ariola. Tyler Apuna, Laakea Moniz (4), and Royce Torres.
W–Navas. L–Apuna.
Leading hitters–Dam: Trevor Caspillo 2-5, run; Tristan Florentin 2-4, run; Kaeo Castaneda 2-5, run, RBI; Kody Tamashiro 2-4, run, RBI; Myles Okamura 3-5, 2b, run, 2 RBIs; Dylan Flores 3-5, run, 2 RBIs; Byrson Tanicala 2-3, run, RBI.
Also
BIIF
Waiakea 5, Keaau 0
