St. Francis takes aim at school’s swan song in D-II title game

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RON KOSEN / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER

St. Francis’ James Yamasaki, who also was the winning pitcher, stroked an extra-base hit in the third inning.

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LIHUE >> St. Francis showed no signs of a letup Friday in its quest to make school history.

The third-seeded Saints rolled to an 11-1 victory over second-seeded Radford in the Division II semifinals of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Baseball State Championships at Vidinha Stadium.

At the end of the school year, St. Francis as a private institution for learning will no longer exist.

“It’s certain that the school will close and the season will come to an end,” St. Francis coach Kip Akana said after the win that ended by mercy rule in the sixth inning. “The final chapter is the only thing up for debate. The players hold the pen to write the final stanza. It’s up to them how they will be remembered. This will be history.”

James Yamasaki pitched a complete-game two-hitter and Makana Poole had a mammoth game on offense, going 3-for-4 with a triple, a bunt hit, two RBIs, three runs scored and two stolen bases.

“I’m a senior and it’s all or nothing,” Poole said. “This is the last shot we’ve got right here. I’m just excited for tomorrow. We’ve got to come with our A game and have fun.”

Tonight at 7 at Vidinha, St. Francis meets fourth-seeded Waimea in the title game.

After Poole’s two-run triple in the first inning, Bubba Akana drove him in with a triple of his own as the Saints (15-4) sprinted out to a 4-0 lead.

Yamasaki, who finished with three RBIs, blasted a two-run double in a six-run third as the lead ballooned to 10-0.

Two St. Francis errors in the fourth led to the Rams’ only run and it extended the game until the bottom of the sixth, when Poole singled and wound up scoring on a Radford error to give the Saints the winning 10-run margin.

Matt Lukins and Pinemua Epenesa had the only hits — singles — for the Rams (11-3), who finished up a highly successful season one game shy of a second straight state championship-game appearance.

“It was definitely a good season,” Radford coach Jacob Sur said. “We were OIA champs and we battled. Too many mistakes today. We didn’t come to play, really. Hats off to them (the Saints). They came to play, they put the ball in play, had some huge hits and took advantage of their opportunities and we didn’t.

“Our kids are great. I’m so proud of these guys. A lot of people are so infatuated with results, but they don’t understand the process. This group of kids did it the right way the whole year.”