‘Iolani’s coaches placed their trust in Aleia Agbayani to close out Wednesday’s ILH playoff game. The freshman in turn put her faith in the teammates behind her.

Agbayani belted a three-run double in the fifth inning and held off Punahou rallies in the sixth and seventh and the Raiders held on for a 7-5 win to clinch the program’s first berth in the state softball tournament in seven years.

“I kind of just believed in myself and my defense … that they can back me up in this situation,” Agbayani said of weathering the Buffanblu comeback on a rainy afternoon at ‘Iolani’s field.

‘Iolani will make its first appearance in the DataHouse/HHSAA Division I State Softball Championship since 2009 when the tournament opens on Tuesday at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Kamehameha clinched the ILH’s seeded berth last week by winning the regular-season title.

‘Iolani’s shot at the league crown slipped away with a 10-5 loss to Pac-Five a week ago, forcing the Raiders to play their way into the state tournament through the ILH’s single-elimination playoff.

They advanced with a win over Mid-Pacific on Monday and managed to hold off Punahou on Wednesday after the teams split their regular-season meetings.

“Throughout this journey they’ve always battled,” said ‘Iolani coach Dean Yonamine, who credited a midseason trip to Arizona for contributing to the team’s growth.

“We learned a lot (from the trip). That gave them a lot of confidence that we could keep battling.”

After the teams traded unearned runs in the first inning, ‘Iolani took control with a five-run outburst with two out in the bottom of the fifth. Leila Anoina singled home the go-ahead run and Kenedi Lopes followed with an RBI ground-rule double. After a walk, Agbayani gave the Raiders a 6-2 lead with her bases-clearing double.

Punahou responded with a three-run rally in the top of the sixth with freshman shortstop D’Asha Saiki driving in two with a two-out single up the middle.

‘Iolani took a 7-4 lead in the bottom of the inning on Anoina’s sacrifice fly, but Punahou made one more charge in the seventh.

With one out, Kara Ann Tsuruda reached on an infield single and Janell Sato was hit by a pitch to bring the tying run to the plate and Agbayani’s father, former Major Leaguer Benny Agbayani, out of the ‘Iolani dugout.

“I said, ‘none of (the coaches) are coming back out, you’re going to win the game for us,’ ” Benny Agbayani said. “I said trust your defense because your defense is always behind you.”

Punahou’s Alyssa Rasmussen then added to the tension by loading the bases with a bunt single. Anoina, ‘Iolani’s second baseman, then ranged to her left to stop Elyse Nakamoto’s grounder while Tsuruda scored and the tying runs moved into scoring position.

Kennedy Ishii’s hard grounder then one-hopped into the mitt of ‘Iolani first baseman Marcie Nakamura and she stepped on the bag to end the game.

“It’s the classic ‘Iolani-Punahou game,” Punahou coach Bob Makahilahila said. “It’s always that way between us and would never expect anything different. Like we told the girls, that hit, one foot this way, one foot that way, down the line, two runs score. … Just wasn’t our time, that’s all.”