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Six teams can’t remain within a game of first place forever.
No. 6 Punahou started to separate itself from the rest of the league in a crucial week of ILH baseball games following a 12-1 win in five innings over No. 2 ‘Iolani on Thursday.
Kyle Uemura struck out seven in a complete game. Kyson Donahue finished 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and two RBIs for the visiting Buffanblu (5-1), who moved ahead of Mid-Pacific for sole possession of first place.
Six of the seven Division I teams had either one or two losses on Tuesday, when most teams began a stretch of three games in five days.
The Buffanblu made quick work of the Raiders. Punahou can really break away from the pack with a win Saturday over Kamehameha, which played ‘Iolani to a 10-10 tie on Tuesday and beat Saint Louis 3-2 on Thursday.
“There’s parity and you can not take anyone for granted,” Punahou coach Keenan Sue said. “We have to come out prepared to win every pitch of every inning of every game and if we have that philosophy, we’ll have a shot.”
Outside of one pitch from Uemura that was deposited over the center-field fence by ‘Iolani’s Cade Yonamine in the fourth inning, Punahou did exactly that against the Raiders (2-2-1).
The Buffanblu staked Uemura to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when their first three batters all came around to score.
Uemura, who battled through five innings for a win in a 5-1 victory over Saint Louis last week, had full command of his pitches against the Raiders, getting ahead in counts and putting batters away with his off-speed stuff.
The right-hander allowed four hits and only four runners to reach second base.
“Today my changeup was on and I could spot up my fastball,” Uemura said. “We’ve worked a lot on our hitting recently and changed our approach a little bit and something worked.”
Punahou got a run scored from all nine spots in the lineup, and designated hitter Cade Morihara went 4-for-4 with two RBIs.
Kalae Harrison and Asa Kurasaki also drove in two runs. Cody Hirano reached base three times and scored twice.
“We were lucky enough to capitalize on a couple of hit batters and a couple of walks and got some timely hits,” Sue said. “We try to prepare as well as we can in practice and then just come out here and have fun, and I think they have really taken that to heart.
“What I’ve noticed coming out for a game that we haven’t had in years past is just kind of a relaxed confidence, and I think that comes from proper preparation.”
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