With runners at the corners and two out in the seventh inning Wednesday, Aiea reliever John Navarro was called on to pitch and he didn’t disappoint.

Navarro faced just one batter, inducing a ground-ball by Leilehua’s Mason Yamashiro to close out Na Alii’s 4-2 home OIA baseball victory over Leilehua.

It marked the fifth win in a row for Aiea (5-2). Na Alii also gained separation from the Mules (4-4) in the standings, but are still looking up at Campbell and Mililani.

“It’s always good when we come out with the win,” Aiea coach Ryan Kato said. “Every game I start to see different things from different people. It’s a process that I’m excited about. I knew all along that these guys were going to be an exciting team because they’re all coachable and they’re all passionate.”

Both teams struck for a run in the first and the visitors went up 2-1 in the second, when Yamashiro — the starting and eventual losing pitcher — sprinted home on a wild pitch.

That Mules’ lead held up until the fifth, when Na Alii turned it up a notch with three straight doubles by Kawika Shima, Ryson Ujimori and DJ Akiyama, whose hit was the eventual game-winner, to put Aiea ahead 3-2. Noa Ohara followed with an RBI single for what turned out to be the game’s final run.

“I thought we could come out on top,” Akiyama said. “We just had to trust all of our teammates.”

Akiyama, who started on the mound for Na Alii, was effective, but began to slow and was pulled in the top of the fifth with his team still trailing 2-1 and Leilehua’s Ty Yukumoto on third base with a leadoff triple.

Kato brought in left-hander Jordan Cezar, who got out of the jam and wound up getting the victory for his 22⁄3 innings of two-hit, scoreless relief.

Navarro picked up the save for getting that final out in the seventh, with the potential tying runners on base.

“It’s always good when the players make you look like a good coach,” Kato said about making those two crucial pitching changes.

Earlier, in the top of the first, the Mules’ Shyden Cordero unloaded an RBI triple for an early 1-0 edge.

But Leilehua — which left 10 runners on base — hurt itself throughout with three baserunning mistakes that turned into threat-ending outs.

“I think we left four or five runs out there on the bases today,” Mules coach Marc Rios said. “We talked about that to the team after. There was a situation with runners on second and third and no outs and we couldn’t capitalize. That kind of stuff kills you.”

Two close calls went Aiea’s way.

In the fourth, as soon as Na Alii’s defense made the final out, Kato went straight to the umpire to make sure that it did not count on the scoreboard when Leilehua’s Lii Wofford crossed the plate. Just a moment earlier, the Mules’ Hunter Sasaki hit a smash to third that Ujimori somehow knocked down and then tagged Mason Reis, who was sprinting to third, to end the inning. It was not a force play, so Wofford’s run would have counted if it came before the tag, but the umpire ruled that Wofford touched the plate after the tag.

Then, in the top of the fifth with runners on second and third and no outs, a fly ball that appeared fair was dropped by a Na Alii outfielder, but the umpire ruled that the ball was foul.

Aiea will try to make it six in a row Saturday at home against Mililani. On the same day, the Mules will try to go above .500 at home against Pearl City.

“We couldn’t combine our hits,” Leilehua’s Yukumoto said. “We’ve gotta work on that. It was that stuck feeling when you know you did something, but you can’t really pull it through.”