The Punahou Buffanblu found the right time to peak.
Matt McConnell and Landon Carter made sure of it, combining on a one-hitter as Punahou edged Kamehameha 2-0 on Wednesday to capture the Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball championship at Hans L’Orange Park.
McConnell went 51⁄3 hitless innings with four strikeouts and three walks. Carter entered with one out in the top of the sixth after McConnell walked two batters with Punahou clinging to a 1-0 lead. Carter, normally a starter, got Josiah Pekelo to ground out then struck out Dante Park on three pitches to end the threat.
Punahou (22-5-1 overall) will return to the state tournament as the ILH champion, with a first-round bye, for the first time since 2010, when the Buffanblu last won the crown. This year’s squad took first in the regular season, then lost in the double-elimination playoff tournament, which was won by Kamehameha. One of those tournament losses was to the Warriors.
“For some reason, these guys need their backs against the walls sometimes to play their A game,” Buffanblu coach Keenan Sue said. “Every great story has adversity and hopefully that was ours for the season. We learned a lot of from those two losses and played good baseball.”
Punahou was flawless defensively.
“Matty threw a lot of strikes. He got to three balls only a couple of times. And we played great defense. It’s no secret when you throw strikes, play great defense and have timely hits, you have a chance,” Sue said.
The Buffanblu got a major boost from Kirk Terada-Herzer, their No. 9 hitter in the lineup.
“He’s worked really hard the last few weeks, making some adjustments. It all came to fruition here and I couldn’t be prouder of him. It’s a testament to his grit and perseverance,” Sue said.
Kamehameha (16-11 overall) got a phenomenal effort from Christian DeJesus, who allowed one earned run on four hits with two strikeouts and no walks in 51⁄3 innings.
“Hat’s off to Matt and Landon. Christian pitched well,” Kamehameha coach Daryl Kitagawa said.
Kamehameha and Saint Louis will have unseeded berths at the state tournament, which begins May 8 at Iron Maehara Stadium on Maui.
“I’m super proud of our guys. Our goal was to get to Maui,” Kitagawa said.
The pitchers’ duel was scoreless through four innings. Kamehameha got a runner to third in the top of the fifth when Vince Venenciano walked, and courtesy runner Kobie Iwai reached second base on a wild pitch, then went to third on a groundout. McConnell retired Paa Elarionoff on a foul pop to end the threat.
Punahou broke through in the bottom of the fifth. Makana Murashige reached base on a bunt single and continued to second base on a bad toss by first baseman Hanu Racoma. Murashige advanced to third on a fly ball, then scored on Terada-Herzer’s line-drive single to center.
The Buffanblu missed another opportunity after Cody Hirano singled, but was thrown out at second base on a botched steal attempt to end the inning.
Kamehameha got two runners on base in the top of the sixth when pinch-hitter Javyn Pimental and Kaeden Shim walked. Carter relieved McConnell and got Pekelo out on a pop-up, and struck out Park.
Punahou added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Kalae Harrison led off with a single, raced to second base on a passed ball, and advanced to third on a fly out by Jake Tsukada. Kelena Sauer replaced DeJesus on the mound, and Aaron Tom’s sacrifice fly to left scored Harrison for a 2-0 Buffanblu lead.
Kamehameha’s last chance in the seventh began with an infield single by Venenciano, but Beau Sylvester’s liner up the middle was short-hopped by second baseman Harrison, and Tsukada, the shortstop, turned the double play.
