With a little grit, Pac-Five broke the spell.

Saint Louis’ eight-year win streak over the Wolfpack came to an end Tuesday afternoon as Colten Amai-Nakagawa limited the Crusaders to one run in four innings, and the Wolfpack held on for a 7-5 win at Ala Wai Community Park.

No. 3 Saint Louis had beaten Pac-Five in 13 consecutive ILH games. The Wolfpack last beat the Crusaders on April 3, 2018, at Hans L’Orange Field, 2-1. Amai-Nakagawa was a fourth grader at Aikahi Elementary School and two-way star Alika Ahu was a fourth grader at Manoa Elementary.

“I didn’t know that. I know it’s been a little bit,” Wolfpack coach Reyn Sugai said. “We’re just hoping to have a lot of firsts this year and kind of change the mentality and expectations for us.”

It was a sunny, gusty day.

“There’s a couple times where I had to step off because I had a lot of dust in my eyes,” said Amai-Nakagawa, a 6-foot-1 junior who has committed to UH. “Saint Louis is a really good team. The whole game plan was to attack them. I trust my stuff. I trust my defense. They make good plays.”

Ahu went 2-for-4 at the plate and closed the game with two shutout innings on the mound for the save. Saint Louis had cut a seven-run deficit to two when Ahu moved from shortstop to the mound and recorded three strikeouts.

“It feels good. Our team works really hard every day at practice. The hard work is paying off,” the junior said. “Back to work tomorrow for Kamehameha.”

No. 1 Kamehameha awaits Pac-Five on Thursday at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park. Saint Louis will play Maryknoll on Saturday at Ala Wai.

It was the ILH regular-season opener for both teams. Amai-Nakagawa, a junior left-hander, gave up just two hits with five strikeouts and three walks. The UH commit’s pitch count was at 78 when he was moved to left field.

“We were trying to keep him under 80 today. We don’t want to run guys’ pitch counts up, especially guys with a bright future like his,” Sugai said.

Saint Louis sophomore Jonah Brub was steady in relief of starting pitcher Amar Brooks. Brub went 41⁄3 innings, permitting two unearned runs on three hits. He struck out one and walked two.

“We were probably two hits away from taking the lead, but unfortunately, it didn’t go our way,” Crusaders coach Benny Agbayani said. “Jonah kept us in the game. He was hitting also. He did a very good job for us today.”

In the first inning, Ryden Toyama led off with a walk and Ahu lined a one-out double to center. Amai-Nakagawa poked a 1-2 fastball to short center field, scoring Toyama and Ahu. Courtesy runner Reyn Kido went to second base on a wild pitch, then scored on an infield error for a 3-0 Pac-Five lead.

In the second inning, Naden Nihipali was hit by pitch and later scored on a single by Ahu. Amai-Nakagawa lined the first pitch from Brub to left field, scoring Keaka Bennett from second base for a five-run cushion.

After cutting the lead to 7-4 in the sixth inning, Saint Louis had runners at second and first when Ahu replaced Justin Tomasso. His pickoff throw to second base sailed through to center field, allowing the runners to advance. Ahu then struck out Kahanu Martinez. Mana Heffernan grounded to first base, bringing Aycen Fernandez home. Ahu then retired Bruin Agbayani on a pop-up to third base to end the inning.

In the seventh, Ahu struck out Ka‘ili Kane and Chase Sutherland before Kanalu Antone lined an opposite-field double to left. Ahu then retired Brub on a groundout to second to secure Pac-Five’s big win.