One night after getting knocked down a peg by a league rival, No. 2 Kamehameha bore down and clinched the Interscholastic League of Honolulu regular-season baseball championship by beating No. 9 Mid-Pacific 9-6 on Saturday at Ala Wai Community Park.
The Warriors (12-3) can thank the enemy, too. After losing to No. 7 Punahou 7-3 on Friday, Kamehameha got an assist Saturday from the Buffanblu, who dispatched No. 4 Saint Louis 5-4 in nine innings in the early afternoon. By day’s end, the Warriors were one game clear of the Crusaders (11-4) to nab a spot in next month’s state tournament.
“We’re thrilled to get that first (state) spot,” Kamehameha coach Thomas Perkins said. “Now it’s time to get to work on playing in the ILH tournament and hopefully we can do better. We just had to regroup after last night. That’s what we talked about — to come back and play our game today.”
All six ILH teams enter the league’s postseason tournament starting next weekend, with one more state berth up for grabs.
The Warriors could smell the finish line after jumping out to a 4-0 first-inning lead on Logan Salcedo’s RBI double and run-scoring singles by Nakea Hanohano and Wilhelm Cordes. Li‘i Pontes also drove in a run with a sacrifice bunt.
Instead of falling flat, the Owls (6-9) showed some fight and trimmed the deficit to 4-2 on Zachary Gushiken’s RBI groundout and Kyle Layugan’s RBI double.
“We played a lot better,” Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru said. “We’re hitting the ball a lot better; we weren’t hitting the ball at all.”
Unfortunately for the Owls, Kamehameha scored two runs in the third and three more in the fourth to extend the lead to 9-3. Kalamaku Kuewa cranked two run-scoring doubles and Pontes and Hunter Breault also drove in runs in that span.
Despite making five errors and allowing three more runs between the fourth and seventh frames, the Warriors held on for the crucial victory.
“It’s great to get another shot (at states),” Kamehameha shortstop and leadoff batter Kawai Takemura said. “We’re looking forward to the ILH tournament and to states. Nobody’s perfect. We made our share of errors (eight total on Friday and Saturday), but we bounced back like great teams do. This was a great team win and our pitchers did well.”
Takemura was a member of the Warriors’ 2015 team that lost to eventual D-I state champion Campbell 2-1 in the semifinals.
Kamaha‘o Arita, Kamehameha’s starting pitcher, went five innings and got his team through some tough patches. Jace Borja pitched one inning and Pontes got out of a jam with runners on first and third in the seventh to earn the save.
Shion Matsushita, the first of three Owls hurlers, took the loss, allowing six runs in two-plus innings. Carter Rustad finished up on the mound, going 2 1/3 innings of one-hit ball with four strikeouts.
Mid-Pacific is 5-4 in its past nine games.
“The players never quit and it’s been a learning thing,” Muramaru said. “We gotta keep teaching them, and this is probably the hardest I’ve worked (as a coach) in a long time. The kids really work at it and that’s kind of nice. Before the game, I said, ‘Are you ready?’ They said, ‘Yup, we’re ready.’ We gotta let the chips fall. We’ve got (a lot of) new guys. I’m pretty comfortable right now.”
Kamehameha’s Perkins is feeling fortunate.
“All the teams in the league can play and we never take anyone lightly. Everything came together a little better today.”
Click here to see more photos.
No. 2 Kamehameha 9, No. 9 Mid-Pacific 6
At Ala Wai Field
>> Mid-Pacific (6-9) 002 121 0 — 6 10 1
>> KS (12-3) 402 300 x — 9 12 5
Shion Matsushita, JT Navyac (3), Carter Rustad (4) and Kyle Layugan. Kamaha‘o Arita, Jace Borja (6), Li‘i Pontes (7) and Dylan Salcedo. W—Arita. L—Matsushita.
Leading hitters—MPI: Jacob Yoshino 2 runs; Layugan 2-4, 2b; Corey Takahashi 2-4; Ryne Aniya 2-3, 2b. KS: Logan Salcedo 2-4, 2b; Nakea Hanohano 3-4, 2b, 3 runs; Kalamaku Kuewa 2-3, 2 2bs, 3 runs, 2 RBIs; Pontes 2 RBIs; Chaeston Chon 3b.
