No. 4 Saint Louis did everything right for six innings against No. 1 Kamehameha on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, the game lasted an inning longer.
The Warriors took advantage of an error and two walks — along with a timely two-out hit from cleanup hitter Kalamaku Kuewa — to score four runs in the bottom of the seventh and walk off with a 5-4 win over the Crusaders in an ILH second-round winner’s bracket game at Ala Wai Community Park.
Kuewa singled on an 0-2 pitch from Saint Louis reliever Kanoa Meredith to drive in the tying run after Kamehameha started the inning trailing 4-1.
After two walks, including one intentional, Meredith’s attempted pickoff throw to second sailed into center field, allowing Kuewa to score the winning run from third and give Kamehameha (14-3) three shots at winning its first ILH championship since 2006.
“It all depends on how you finish the game and we never give up,” said Kuewa, who was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. “We stayed calm, tried not to freak out or anything, and I was talking to my (teammates) telling them to never give up.”
The Warriors, who won the ILH first round by a game over the Crusaders (12-5), will play the winner of an elimination game between Punahou and Saint Louis today at Ala Wai on Saturday.
Kamehameha will get a second crack at the ILH second-round title if it loses on Saturday and, if it loses a second time, will play in a playoff game as the first-round champion against the second-round champion for the ILH’s seeded berth in the state tournament.
The likelihood of it getting that far isn’t high, as the Warriors have only lost three games all season, thanks in large part to their ability to pull out close games.
Since losing 2-1 to Saint Louis in their ILH opener, the Warriors have won all seven of their games decided by three runs or fewer.
“They’re special. They might not be the most talented guys out there, but they play well together and they support each other 100 percent,” Kamehameha coach Thomas Perkins said of his team. “We don’t panic. We play the whole seven innings and we’re not going to stop until (the game) is done.”
Kuewa gave Kamehameha a 1-0 lead with a two-out RBI double in the first inning off Saint Louis starter Chase Meilleur, who had to deal with a heavy downpour in the bottom of the inning and struggled with his footing.
Meilleur put up zeros over the next five frames and Saint Louis eventually took a 4-1 lead despite managing just three hits.
Saint Louis coach George Gusman pulled Meilleur for center fielder DJ Stephens to start the bottom of the seventh and Stephens promptly gave up two walks and a hit.
Meredith entered in relief with the the bases loaded and gave up an RBI groundout and an RBI sacrifice fly before Kuewa bounced an 0-2 pitch back up the middle for a base hit to drive in Kawai Takemura with the tying run.
“During that at-bat I was talking to myself about how I can help this team win,” Kuewa said. “The whole game I was hitting the left side, so I tried to work up the middle, where I knew it would be open.”
Kuewa took second on the throw home, forcing Saint Louis to intentionally walk Wilhelm Cordes, who was 2-for-2 with a double and reached base in all four plate appearances.
Meredith then walked Dylan Sarcedo on four pitches and was behind Li’i Pontes 1-0 when he spun to attempt a pickoff throw to second and instead airmailed the throw into center.
“I have no idea what that last play was. Obviously we didn’t call that,” Gusman said of the pickoff attempt. “Chase was battling command the whole game, and for him to give us that lead going to the last inning was just a shame that we didn’t throw strikes in the end.”
Meilleur allowed one run on five hits in six innings, while Kamehameha starter Hunter Breault gave up two runs — one earned — on one hit in four innings with three walks and four strikeouts.
Christian DeJesus earned the win, giving up two unearned runs in three innings of relief.
ILH BASEBALL DIVISION I PLAYOFFS
No. 1 Kamehameha 5, No. 4 Saint Louis 4
At Ala Wai Field
>> St.L (12-5) 001 110 1 — 4 3 1
>> KSK (14-3) 100 000 4 — 5 7 3
Chase Meilleur, DJ Stephens (7), Kanoa Meredith (7) and Kai Perreira-Alquiza. Hunter Breault, Christian DeJesus (5) and Dylan Salcedo. W — DeJesus. L — Meredith.
Leading hitters — StL: Dylan Pagente 1-3, 2b, 2 runs. KSK: Kalamaku Kuewa 2-4, 2b, run, 2 RBIs; Wilhelm Cordes 2-2, 2b, 2 bbs; Francis Gora 1-1, 2b, run.
No. 5 Punahou 3, Iolani 1
at Goeas Field
>> Iolani (5-11) 000 100 0 — 1 5 0
>> Punahou (11-5) 000 201 x — 3 6 0
Trevor Ichimura and Blake Hiraki. Riley Guieb and Manny Nakamoto. W — Guieb. L — Ichimura.
Leading hitters — Iol: Matt Inaba 2-3. Pun: Collin Freeman 2-3, 2 runs; Kyson
