Jonah Velasco belted a two-run triple in the fifth inning as ‘Iolani hung on for a 4-3 win over No. 7 Maryknoll on Tuesday, eliminating the Spartans from the ILH double-elimination tournament.
‘Iolani was 4-10 during the regular season, but has won two of three games in the tourney. The Raiders followed up a loss to Mid-Pacific with a win over Pac-Five before toppling Maryknoll. The Spartans had beaten the Raiders in two previous matchups, 3-0 and 10-1.
“I feel great. This is a very tough team to beat and we did it,” Velasco said. “I think we wanted it more than they did and it happened.”
‘Iolani (11-12 overall) got a strong complete-game win from starter Trent Ihle, who used a snapping slider to keep the Spartans off balance. Ihle permitted two earned runs, scattered nine hits, struck out one and walked three. He was at his best with runners on base — the Spartans stranded nine baserunners. He outlasted Maryknoll ace Parker Grant, who went five innings, allowed three earned runs on four hits, struck out two, walked four and hit one batter.
“This is the first game I really used my slider a lot. Today it was on, so I kept working it,” Ihle said. “I didn’t really have a good (bull)pen, but it turned on during the game. It wasn’t snapping, but in the game I snapped it. Sometimes you throw the worst pens and have the best games. I threw a lot of fastballs to them last game, so today the goal was to go to a lot of off-speeds and keep them off-balance.”
‘Iolani will play Saint Louis next in an elimination battle. Maryknoll’s magical season came to an end with the loss. The Spartans were ranked as high as No. 6 in their finest season at the Division I level since leaving the D-II ranks, where they were dominant.
“I’m grateful we can play another game,” Raiders coach Kurt Miyahira said. “Trent battled. He didn’t have his best stuff, but he kept the guys in there. Our guys had pretty good at-bats. I couldn’t be happier for Jonah. He comes in every day and works. He’s one of our senior captains. Hat’s off to all our seniors. They do a great job of inspiring our guys to believe and believe in each other.”
Maryknoll was 8-5-1 during the regular season, but lost to Punahou last Thursday, setting up Tuesday’s elimination game with ‘Iolani. The Spartans finished 10-8-1 overall.
“I think despite the loss and all the other things, we reflect on the goals our seniors had, and we hit every goal,” Maryknoll coach Alaka‘i Aglipay said. “The results were historic for Maryknoll baseball. They laid a blueprint and foundation for the program. I couldn’t be more proud of these seniors, their leadership, the way they carried themselves.”
The Spartans led for a good portion of the game on a cool, overcast afternoon at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park. Luke Swartman led off the bottom of the second with a double to left field, and advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Tanner Fujino. With two outs, Ripken Chong’s ground ball to second base was misplayed by Cadence Ueyama, allowing Swartman to score the game’s first run.
The Raiders responded in the top of the third inning. With one out and Travis Ujimori at second base, Bruin Agbayani doubled to the left-field corner, plating Ujimori to tie the game. Grant then walked Mana Lau Kong, but got Makani Tanaka on a pop fly to second to end the inning.
Maryknoll answered right back with a run in the bottom of the third. With two outs, Matt Miura singled to left and stole second base. Jacob Remily then singled to left, scoring Miura for a 2-1 Maryknoll lead.
Ihle retired Swartman on a pop fly to second, ending the inning.
‘Iolani tied it again with a single run in the top of the fourth. Brock Makishima was hit by a Grant pitch with two outs and stole second base. Rylen Miyasaki then sent a ground ball to third base, but Swartman’s throw was off target and Makishima scored from second to tie the game at 2.
Ueyama walked to give the Spartans two runners on base, but Grant retired Ujimori on a forceout.
The Spartans loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth with two outs, but Ihle got Noah Nakaoka on a ground ball to short.
In the top of the fifth, Makani Tanaka (fielder’s choice) and Brandon Wada (walk) were on base with one out when Velasco smacked a fastball to the right-center alley. Tanaka and Wada scored to give ‘Iolani a two-run cushion.
“At the start of that at-bat, I was looking off-speed because I’d been getting a lot of off-speed my last two at-bats,” Velasco said of his battle with Grant. “He actually threw me a fastball, then off-speeds and I kept battling. I finally got that fastball down the middle and I took a hack at it.”
Maryknoll had a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth when Noah Hata walked and stole second base with two outs, but Ihle got Nakaoka on a groundout.
In the bottom of the seventh, Miura led off with a single and advanced to second base on a wild pitch, but Remily, Swartman and Fujino all hit fly balls to end the game.
