Punahou’s Carter corrals Damien

Landon Carter fired a three-hit shutout as No. 4 Punahou opened ILH play with a 3-0 win over Damien on a cloudy, cool Tuesday afternoon at Ala Wai Community Park.

Each team had its share of defensive gems on a gusty afternoon. Punahou (9-1-1 overall) had just one error.

Carter finished with seven strikeouts, two walks and one hit batter, finishing strong with fastballs and the occasional curve.

“I think it was just first-game jitters. I think it took him a while to settle in,” Punahou coach Keenan Sue said. “Once he realized he could find the strike zone, own his change-up, he had a hard time locating that early. Once he found his change-up, Landon usually starts to get a little more confident.”

Carter added that the mound was a challenge at first.

“I was having a hard time with my footing on the mound, too, out of my windup. After the first two innings, I cut it out and went all from the stretch and I did a lot better,” the senior right-hander said. “I just felt more in sync. I had more control.”

The strong effort by Carter was timely in a game that was still 1-0 in the fifth inning.

“Damien is always well-coached and they always have a couple of really good hitters on the team, so you can’t count them out. We were squeezing there for a little bit, but the guys kept going,” Sue said.

The Monarchs, the ILH’s two-time defending Division II champions, were just a few swings away from staying with the powerhouse Buffanblu.

River Iaea took the loss for Division II Damien despite a solid performance. The right-hander scattered seven hits, struck out five, walked two and hit one batter, permitting two earned runs.

Iaea’s ability to change speeds kept the top half of Punahou’s lineup off balance. Batters one through four were 0-for-12 until the seventh inning and finished 1-for-13.

“I thought our guys played well,” Damien coach Timo Donahue said. “It’s good to see that we were there, but it’s getting old to say you’re close.”

Punahou scored a single run in the top of the second frame thanks to Koa Eldredge, who drew a four-pitch walk with one out. He stole second base and came home on a single to right by designated hitter Kade Morihara.

The Buffanblu left the bases loaded, however, as Iaea got Kalae Harrison to ground into a forceout at second for the final out.

The single run proved all Punahou would need. The Buffanblu got a solo home run by Morihara in the sixth, a high fly ball to deep left that kept carrying with the wind blowing out, beyond the 328-foot sign.

In the top of the seventh, Jake Tsukada reached on a two-out error by second baseman Kaysen Kajiwara. After Aaron Tom singled to left, Eldredge’s single to right brought Tsukada home for a 3-0 Buffanblu lead.

Iaea was encouraged despite the loss.

“It’s about off-speed pitches, throwing them off with fastballs coming in, change-ups after the fastballs, then coming with the fastballs and it looks like it’s 100 mph,” he said.

Damien got runners in scoring position just twice. In the first, leadoff hitter Kajiwara was hit by a pitch, stole second base and was stranded there. In the bottom of the seventh, Jordan Donahue reached on an infield single and advanced on a fielding error. After Bryce Uyeno drilled an 0-2 fastball for a single, Damien had two runners on base for the first time. Carter bore down and got Braeden Halili to ground into a forceout, ending the game.