Winless to start the week, Mid-Pacific suddenly finds itself one win away from a berth in the state softball tournament.

After going 0-12 in the ILH regular season, the Owls found new life in the league’s Division I playoffs, extended their season by knocking off Punahou on Wednesday and stunned No. 5 ‘Iolani 10-6 on Friday at Ala Wai field to advance to the final.

Lia Nakamoto, one of three seniors on MPI’s roster, launched a grand slam in the top of the sixth inning to give the Owls the lead and sophomore Lea Hanawahine held off the Raiders in the final two frames to close out a gritty complete-game victory.

“It’s so gratifying. Our team, our girls, our coaches, I’m so proud of them. It was only a matter of time,” Mid-Pacific coach Aloha Yamaguchi said of the Owls’ breakthrough.

Mid-Pacific’s opponent in the final will be determined on Monday when No. 2 Kamehameha faces No. 8 Maryknoll in the other semifinal, which was rained out on Friday.

‘Iolani finished second to Kamehameha in the regular season and the Raiders’ season hinges on the Warriors winning the tournament title as well. If Kamehameha wins its next two games, ‘Iolani will play Mid-Pacific — the tournament runner-up in this scenario — for the league’s second berth in the Division I state tournament.

Mid-Pacific lost its regular-season opener to ‘Iolani 9-4 on March 8 and suffered through a 20-4 rout in five innings on April 1.

But the Owls pulled out a 4-2 win over Punahou on Wednesday, led early on Friday and rallied after ‘Iolani jumped ahead on Aleia Agbayani’s three-run homer to center field in the bottom of the fifth inning.

“We always knew they were a good hitting team,” ‘Iolani coach Dean Yonamine said. “The game that we blew them out, the ball just fell in for us, things just went our way. But they’ve always been a good hitting team, they just kind of pieced it together. I’m not really shocked they hit the ball real well.”

After Agbayani’s line-drive homer to center gave ‘Iolani a 6-4 lead, the Owls loaded the bases with one out in the top of the sixth. They scratched out a run on Hanawahine’s grounder to shortstop and the throw to second was dropped, keeping the bases loaded for Nakamoto.

“I was just looking base hit, line drive, I just had to do my job to move my runners over,” the MPI catcher said.

She moved them all the way around the bases with a towering fly to center to push Mid-Pacific ahead for good.

“Lia has come so far. She’s a leader and our girls look up to her,” Yamaguchi said. “I’m so proud that at this moment she had that big hit for us because she deserved it.”

Hanawahine added to the lead by drilling a two-out single in the top of the seventh to score freshman Marissa Nishihara, who sparked the Owls with a two-run triple in the second inning.

‘Iolani put a runner on in the bottom of the seventh, but second baseman Beyli Correa made a diving stop and made the throw to first for the final out.

“We were struggling through the season, but our coaches kept believing in us and we practiced harder and harder until we could reach our goal,” said Nakamoto, who threw out two runners on stolen-base attempts.

At Ala Wai Field

>> MPI (2-12) 021 015 1 — 10 11 0
>> ‘Iolani (8-4) 110 130 0 — 6 9 2

Lea Hanawahine and Lia Nakamoto. Marley Dyer, Marcee Nakamura (5), Aleia Agbayani (7) and Kai Barrett. W—Hanawahine. L—Nakamura.

Leading hitters—MPI: Hanawahine, 2-5, 2 RBIs; Nakamoto, 2-5, 2b, grand slam; Mahealani Perkins, 3-4, 2b, RBI; Marissa Nishihara, 2-4, 3B, 2 RBIs. ‘Iol—Agbayani HR, 3 RBIs; Kenedi Lopes 2-3, RBI; Ashlyn Okamoto RBI; Nakamura RBI; Leila Anoina 2-3.