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Even when they’re down, Saint Louis’ seniors come up big.
Trailing by one in the top of the seventh, Nu‘u Contrades and Aiva Arquette clutched up as No. 1 Saint Louis rallied for a 7-6 win over No. 2 Punahou on a sunny Friday afternoon at Ala Wai Field.
Saint Louis improved to 2-0 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu (10-0 overall). Punahou dropped to 1-1 (4-2-1).
Contrades led off the top of the seventh with a double and scored the tying run on a two-out single by Arquette. Makamae Du Pont followed with a double to score Arquette with the go-ahead run.
“I feel fired up. It’s a great team win. We all came through at the end. Aiva with the clutch base hit to bring me in and Maks (Makamae Du Pont) to get the winning run to the plate,” Contrades said.
Saint Louis was coming off a 5-4 win at ‘Iolani on Thursday, when Arquette injured his left ankle while racing to first base.
“It’s still emotional all the way. We kind of lost focus in the middle innings, but as long as we got back in it, that’s all that matters,” Contrades said. “We all knew what we had to do and we did it. This is what the ILH is about. It’s a tough league. Every game is going to be like this. We’re not going to walk through anybody. We need to keep the same energy and take this one on to the next game.”
Punahou had its chances to expand the lead, but the fifth-inning splurge was all the offense it could muster.
“It was a battle to the end between two great teams. Our guys never gave up,” Punahou coach Keenan Sue said. “It’s the kind of baseball you see in the ILH.”
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Punahou had the one-run lead and two runners on base when coach George Gusman called on Contrades, who played the first five innings at second base. Contrades retired Quinn Kaniho on a bunt pop-up, then got Cody James Oshiro to ground into a forceout at third base. He struck out Justin Tsukada to end the threat.
In the top of the seventh, Contrades led off with his second double of the game. Gusman asked umpires to confer when it appeared the Punahou first baseman may have interfered with Contrades’ base path between first and second base, but neither umpire saw the possible infraction.
Contrades advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Sean Yamaguchi. Punahou pitcher Cade Terada-Herzer then whiffed Xander Sielken for the second out. Terada-Herzer had Arquette behind 0-2 when the 6-foot-4 right-handed hitter singled up the middle, scoring Contrades easily from third to tie the game at 6.
“All fastballs. The last pitch was a fastball, a higher fastball,” Arquette said. “Towards the outer part of the plate. I just made up my mind to put it in play somewhere.”
Du Pont then followed with the big double to score Arquette. Terada-Herzer then induced Cody Antone into a grounder to third for the third out.
Cody Kashimoto beat out a chopper to first to lead off the bottom of the seventh for the Buffanblu. Then came the grunts as Contrades froze Kaikea Harrison with a slider on the outside corner for the first out. He then fanned Joey Wilson and Jacob Ornelles on 0-2 fastballs.
Saint Louis starting pitcher Spencer Rego was highly effective with four shutout innings, before Punahou rallied with the six unearned runs in the fifth, gifted by three Saint Louis errors.
“It’s very unfortunate. Spencer deserved a lot better,” Gusman said. “We’re a team that most of our pitchers are position players, so it’s tough getting guys ready before the inning. You’ve really got to plan. Nu‘u’s a competitor. He wants the ball. He wants to be in that situation and he delivers, and other guys clutched up.”
The Crusaders opened the game with two runs in the opening frame. Contrades belted a double to left field and Yamaguchi followed with double to right center, scoring Contrades. Sielken’s single to left plated Contrades for a 2-0 lead.
The Crusaders scored again in the top of the fourth when Antone walked with one out and Ryder Okimoto sent a shot to deep left center. The ball bounced to the fence behind the large base of one of the outfield lights, giving Punahou’s outfielders a big problem tracking the ball. Okimoto’s inside-the-park home run, scoring Antone, opened the Crusaders’ lead to 4-0.
There was more. In the fifth, Contrades led off with a walk, Sielken walked with one out, and Du Pont singled to right, scoring Contrades from second base for a 5-0 lead.
Then came a wild six-run rally by Punahou in the bottom of the sixth. Nolan Souza walked with one out and Kaniho reached base on a fielding error by the third baseman, Yamaguchi. Kyler Ryen Saoit singled to left, scoring Souza from second base for Punahou’s first run.
Pinch hitter Jacob Harris’ grounder to second was a potential inning-ended double-play ball, but the throw by Arquette at shortstop was off target, allowing Kaniho to score Punahou’s second run.
Tsukada then singled off the mound, getting a piece of Rego, with Harris scoring to cut Saint Louis’ lead to 5-3.
Kashimoto then crushed a double to right, plating Tsukada. After Harrison was intentionally walked, Wilson sent a fly ball to deep right center, where right fielder Okimoto muffed the ball off his glove. Kashimoto and pinch runner Javin Hamura scored to give Punahou a stunning 6-5 lead.
Sielken moved from first base to the mound in relief of hard-luck Rego and retired Ornellas on a fly ball to finally end the inning. Punahou sent 10 batters to the plate.
At Ala Wai
Saint Louis (2-0 ILH) 200 210 2 — 7 9 4
Punahou (1-1 ILH) 000 060 0 — 6 6 0
Spencer Rego, Xander Sielken (5), Nu‘u Contrades (6) and Ezekiel Ribuca. Rustin Katsura, Trent Nagamine (5), Cade Terada-Herzer (6) and Justin Tsukada. W—Contrades. L—Terada-Herzer.
Leading hitters—STL: Contrades 2-3, 2 doubles, walk, 3 runs; Sean Yamaguchi 1-3, double, run; Sielken 2-3, RBI; Arquette 1-4, RBI, run; Makamae Du Pont 2-4, double, 2 RBIs; Ryder Okimoto 1-3, HR, 2 RBIs, run. Punahou: Justin Tsukada 1-4, RBI, run; Cody Kashimoto 2-3, double, RBI, run, SB; Quinn Kaniho 2-3, run.
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