Down 10 players, the Leilehua Mules didn’t look the part of a meek pushover.

Instead, they gave No. 9 Mililani a good scare with five runs in the fifth and six innings before succumbing, 10-5, at the Trojans’ field on a cool, overcast Wednesday afternoon.

Ryan Ancheta permitted one hit in four scoreless innings to get the win for Mililani, which improved to 3-1 in the tough OIA West, winning its last three games. Mililani piled up 16 hits as five Trojans had at least two hits, led by Noah Damogsac’s 4-for-4 afternoon.

“I was looking for fastballs away,” Damogsac, the second baseman said. “I think we’ve come a long way since last year. We play more as a team and the underclassmen have been doing good things.”

The visiting Mules, now 2-3 in the OIA West, played without 10 players due to violations of team rules. They suited up and supported their teammates from the dugout, but five of them are starters, which left quite a void to fill.

“They understand the consequences. They’ll be back soon. We got a lot of opportunities for a lot of backup players to get game experience,” Mules coach Spencer Omalza said. “These guys fight hard. They never surprise me. It would surprise me if they didn’t fight.”

One of their battlers was starting pitcher Jerin Po‘opa‘a, who went 32⁄3 innings with one strikeout and one walk. The Trojans measured him well, socking 14 hits and scoring two runs in the each of the first three innings, and three more in the fourth.

The Trojans saw a nine-run lead dwindle down to four. They used three pitchers in relief.

“After Ryan, we didn’t throw strikes,” Mililani coach Mark Hirayama said. “For us to be successful, we need everyone to contribute.”

Domogsac reached on a one-out single in the bottom of the first and scored on a two-out single by Ethan Thomas, who took a big turn around first base, baited a throw and beat the next throw to second base. Austin Dela Cruz then singled to center, plating Thomas for a 2-0 lead.

Bryce Yonemori led off the bottom of the second with a double to the left-field corner and scored on a single to left by Micah Kaohu. After a ground-ball forceout by Zack Lafata, Po‘opa‘a-Adaro struck out Shea Yamaguchi. Domogsac reached base on an infield single before Korrey Siracusa singled to left, bringing Lafata home from second base for a four-run lead.

In the third frame, Dela Cruz led off with a triple to the left-center gap and came home on a sacrifice fly to right by Cole Akamu for a 5-0 Mililani lead. With one out, Kaohu singled up the middle and raced home on Lafata’s double to right.

Lafata was thrown out at third base on the play.

Down 6-0, the Mules had Nathaniel De La Cruz at third base (walk) and Zane Staszkow at first (single), but Ancheta got Raven Demmert to fly out to right, ending the threat.

The Trojans got singles by Yamaguchi and Domagsac to begin the bottom of the fourth. Yamaguchi sprinted home on Siracusa’s infield single. Domogsac and Siracusa advanced to second and third on a deep fly to center by Thomas, and then Domogsac scored on a wild pitch by Po‘opa‘a-Adaro. That gave the Trojans an 8-0 lead.

Dela Cruz’s sacrifice fly to right scored Siracusa from third base for a nine-run cushion.

Freshman Jerin Fukumoto moved from shortstop to the mound for Leilehua and allowed just one run on two hits in 31⁄3 innings.