No. 5 ‘Iolani ended a three-game losing streak by erupting for 14 hits in a six-inning, 17-5 mercy-rule ILH baseball pounding of No. 4 Saint Louis on Tuesday.
The victory also served as a major cooling off of the visiting Crusaders, who came into the contest having won eight in a row.
“Our guys are veterans,” Raiders coach Kurt Miyahira said. “They grind. Not too high. Not too low. They concentrate on the task at hand. That’s all they can do, control what they can control.”
In the last game at home for ‘Iolani’s seniors, the Raiders (9-3) proved to be virtually unstoppable on offense against five Saint Louis pitchers, and they were once again led by slugger Micah Yonamine, who went 3-for-4 with a double, triple and three RBIs. His triple in the fourth missed going over the fence in deep right-center by one foot for what would have been his ninth home run of the season.
Production came from others throughout the lineup as well. Shane Sasaki homered with three RBIs, Tate Shimao drove in three runs, and Jacob Hinderleider contributed with three hits and two RBIs.
With three runs in the first and three more in the third, ‘Iolani took a 6-0 lead. The Crusaders (10-3) countered with three in the fourth, but the Raiders hammered away for seven in the bottom half for a 13-3 count.
Had it not been for Mathew Saelua’s RBI double in the top of the fifth to make it 13-4, the game would have ended after four and a half innings on the 10-run mercy rule. Saelua also drilled a two-run homer in the fourth for Saint Louis.
“ ‘Iolani came to play,” Saelua said. “We started off slow on the offensive side, then we started to hit a lot more and score. But they just upped their lead and it made it that much harder for us to come back. You win some, you lose some. We’re trying to win out and we shouldn’t be losing and giving up this many runs.”
Raiders right-hander Aaron Ujimori, who allowed all five Saint Louis runs with three of them earned, picked up the win in 4 2⁄3 innings with relief help from Andrew Quemado and Shaydon Kubo.
Saint Louis southpaw starter Austin Teixeira didn’t make it through the fourth frame in the loss and his seven walks didn’t help matters.
Of the Crusaders’ eight hits, six were for extra bases in the losing cause. Cole Kishimoto and Noah Tory provided some of their spark. They both doubled and went 2-for-4.
On Thursday, Saint Louis visits Mid-Pacific, and ‘Iolani plays Kamehameha at Hans L’Orange Park.
“For us, it’s good to finally bounce back,” said the Raiders’ Shimao, who is only a freshman. “For the seniors, it was their last home game. It’s good for them. They’re soaking it up. It (the win) was mostly for them.”
