Tryzen Patricio’s opposite-field single dropped into the right-field grass at Les Murakami Stadium and into state baseball lore.

Like the true leader he has become, Patricio didn’t jog to first base and admire his handiwork that drove in Keola Himan with the winning run and allowed Campbell to seize its first state baseball championship since 1978. No, he made an all-out sprint to the bag. There were two outs, so an in-time throw from right field to first was not out of the question, and it would have turned that would-be winning hit into an inning-ending groundout with the score still tied.

"I thought, ‘The right fielder better not throw me out. I need to go super fast,’ " he said.

Parties involved on the defensive side — Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru and right fielder Sean Kinel — agreed afterward that an attempted throw would have been too far to make an out at first.

Still, Patricio wasn’t taking any chances. Bring up his name to any of his teammates and it’s likely they’ll say, ‘He’s the man.’ The defensive field general behind the plate and batterymate to the Sabers’ deep pitching staff came through when his team needed him the most to finish off a 3-2 victory over the Owls in the bottom of the eighth Saturday night.

"He clutched up for us in two championship games (Patricio also had the winning RBI on a fielder’s choice in the OIA title game against Mililani)," said Sabers coach Rory Pico, who built Campbell’s state championship piece by piece since taking over the program prior to the 2004 season. "He’s been with this team since he was a freshman. There isn’t anybody who works harder."

Himan, a senior, played a big role in the dramatics by pitching a 1-2-3 eighth inning for the win in relief of Dorrien Villanueva-Hermosura.

"Honestly, I’m feeling pure excitement and joy for my team," Himan said. "I made an error against Saint Louis that scored the winning run last year (in the state semifinals). I made a promise to myself that I would make up for it. We all made promises to each other that we would stick together."

Himan, who could be a starting pitcher on most OIA teams, was used sparingly on the mound this season, with pro prospect Ian Kahaloa, along with Villanueva-Hermosura and Zachary Kapihe in the starting rotation.

"By far, this is the deepest staff I’ve seen since I’ve been playing high school baseball," he said.

Kahaloa, a University of Hawaii commit who is expected to be drafted by a major league club next month, was the horse who got the Sabers through a suspenseful 2-1, 10-inning win over Kamehameha in Friday’s semifinal.

"This means the whole world to me," Kahaloa said. "We bring the championship back to Ewa Beach. Tryzen came through in the clutch two times for the OIA and the state. He deserves it, a lot. I guess it’s our year."

Dewayne Sprinkel, the speedy senior center fielder and leadoff batter, got into the act as well, big-time, too.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth with one runner on, Sprinkel connected with an Alexander Oley fastball with the meat of the barrel and sent it 350 feet over the fence in right field. That two-run homer almost held up as the winner, but MPI had some dramatics of its own later.

"When it went off the bat, I didn’t think it was going over the fence," Sprinkel said. "Once it did, my mind went blank."

Villanueva-Hermosura was one strike away from a complete-game, 2-1 win in the top of the seventh when the Owls’ Tyler Yamaguchi hit a grounder to third base. Yamaguchi, best known as a slick-fielding shortstop, dashed to first and beat the throw, and Oley — who was running from second base on the 3-2 pitch — scored for a 2-all tie. Fortunately for MPI, Oley, who reached on a single, was in scoring position due to a balk.

"It (Yamaguchi’s RBI infield hit) gave us a reprieve, and we had another chance," said Owls coach Dunn Muramaru, who was trying to bring the school a sixth state championship. "Campbell has great pitching and great hitting. For us, it’s not bad to be second in the state and win the ILH."

Yamaguchi, whose face could still not hide the bitter sting a half-hour after the loss, said, "It’s a hard, tough loss. A tough one."

Pico had that look of supreme satisfaction.

"This is the one we wanted," he said seconds before being doused by Sprinkel with Gatorade and ice.

And it’s the one the Sabers got. There may be more to come.

"This is an outstanding team," Patricio said. "Our bond is super strong."