Francis Gora singled in the game’s only run in the fifth inning, and took the mound to record the final two outs for a save as Kamehameha edged Saint Louis 1-0 at Goeas Field to gain sole possession of first place in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball standings.
Kamehameha, which lost to Saint Louis in two previous meetings, leads the league at 9-2. Saint Louis, which got a superb performance from Dylan Lum (no earned runs and a four-hit complete game), dropped to 8-3. The Crusaders drew eight walks, six by Kamehameha ace Hunter Breault, but stranded 10 baserunners.
Gora was opportunistic after a controversial turn of events during the top of the fifth frame. Li‘i Pontes reached base on an infield error. On the next pitch, Gora squared to bunt, and the pitch got past catcher Kai Perreira-Alquiza and caromed off the lower body of the home plate umpire. Pontes raced around second and reached third safely, prompting Saint Louis coach George Gusman to question the play. Gusman maintained that the pitch glanced off the bat of Gora, making it a foul tip and a dead ball.
“There’s no way my catcher misses the ball. The ball tipped the bat,” Gusman said.
“The ball was up,” Kamehameha coach Tommy Perkins said. “But it hit the catcher’s glove. I heard it.”
The home plate umpire maintained vision of the play, kneeling after taking the hit. He ruled that the pitch was not a foul tip, and though Gusman wanted a second opinion, the umpire opted not to ask his base umpire for help.
With a 2-1 count, Gora flared a single down the right-field line, scoring Pontes easily from third base. He was later caught in a rundown and tagged out near second base, but the damage had been done. The unearned run was enough.
In the bottom of the fifth, Breault retired two batters, then walked Charles Lopez and Perreira-Alquiza. When he was removed from the game, his pitch count was at 101. Jace Borja put out the fire, retiring Hunter Peneueta on a line shot to left field.
During that inning, however, there was a five-minute delay as Gusman questioned the pitch-count total of the Warriors’ ace, Breault. The senior had thrown 20 pitches in a win over Punahou on Tuesday.
“It’s a three-day cycle with a 110-pitch max,” Gusman claimed. “Once he exceeded 90 today, that’s over the limit.”
Perkins politely disagreed.
“The way I interpret it, once you had a day of rest (Wednesday) after throwing 20 pitches, everything resets,” he said.
Gusman said he intends to protest the game to the ILH. If his protest is upheld, Perkins could be ejected for a game, but there is no precedent for the new pitch-count rule and what would ensue with the result of this Kamehameha-Saint Louis game.
Meanwhile, Lum (two strikeouts, one walk) kept grinding on, getting his team into the bottom of the seventh down just one run. Borja, a left-hander, struggled with Makana Ontai, going to a full count before inducing a flyout. Then it was back-to-back full counts against Keith Torres and Dylan Pagente, who both walked. That’s when Gora made the move from right field to the mound.
“I was a little nervous, just normal jitters,” the right-hander said.
He got the second out when Stephens grounded into a fielder’s choice, and then snapped two wicked curveballs on Matt Wong before getting him out on a comeback to the mound.
“Saint Louis is a tough team,” Perkins said. “Gora is our short-time thrower, gets an out or two.”
Each team has four games left in the regular season with an automatic state-tournament berth at stake for the ILH’s first-place team. Saint Louis will visit ‘Iolani on Saturday (noon). Kamehameha will meet Maryknoll on Saturday (3 p.m.) at Ala Wai Field.
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ILH DIVISION I BASEBALL
No. 4 Kamehameha 1, No. 3 Saint Louis 0
At Goeas Field
>> KS (9-2) 000 010 0 — 1 4 0
>> Saint Louis (8-3) 000 000 0 — 0 4 2
Hunter Breault, Jace Borja (6), Francis Gora (7) and Dylan Salcedo. Dylan Lum and Kai Perreira-Alquiza. W—Breault. L—Lum. Sv—Gora.
Leading hitters—KS: Micah Kinoshita 1-3, 2b. StL: none.
No. 5 Punahou 5, No. 10 ‘Iolani 4
At Ala Wai Field
>> ‘Iolani (4-7) 300 010 0 — 4 7 1
>> Punahou (7-4) 012 001 1 — 5 9 2
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Colin Freeman’s single brought in the winning run as the Buffanblu edged the Raiders.
Trevor Ichimura, Jonah Miyazawa (7) and Blake Hiraki. Kahi Bisho, Andrew Matsueda (6) and Matthew Nakamoto. W—Matsueda. L—Miyazawa.
Leading hitters—Iol: Matthew Inaba 1-2, 3b, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Micah Yonamine 3-3, RBI; Shaydon Kubo 1-3, 2b, run. Pun: Cole Cabrera 2-4, run; Jake Tsukada 2-2; Kyson Donahue 1-3, 2b, 2 RBIs; Colin Freeman 2-3, 2b, 2 runs.
ALSO >> Mid-Pacific 12, Maryknoll 6
OIA DIVISION II SOFTBALL
Aiea 9, Radford 4
At Radford
>> Aiea (6-0) 200 402 1 — 9 11 1
>> Radford (3-2) 000 112 0 — 4 6 1
Poamai Tuli and Mikelle Gonzales. Abigail Wilson and Mahealani Hetrick. W—Tuli. L—Wilson.
Leading hitters—Aiea: Chantelle Shimabukuro 4-5, 2b, 3 runs; Gonzales 2-4, 3 runs; Testimoni Tavale 1-3, 2 runs; Tuli 1-5, 2b, RBI; Jaenah Padasdao 2-4, 2b, RBI. Rad: Selena Tavarez 2-3, two 2bs, 2 RBIs, run; Punipuao Seei 1-3, 2b, RBI.
