MPI, Kailua, Moanalua and St. Joseph gain baseball semifinals

By Michael Tsai and Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writers

The Mid-Pacific Institute baseball team shook off rust, rain and a monster home run by Pearl City's Gavin Concepcion to beat the Chargers, 3-1, in a Wally Yonamine Foundation State Baseball Championship quarterfinal at Aloha Stadium last night.

Mid-Pacific's Ricky Bauer pitched a complete game, striking out seven and walking none in the Owls' 3-1 victory over Pearl City. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

The top-seeded Owls (16-3) will play Moanalua (10-4) in a 1 p.m. semifinal today at Aloha Stadium. Third-seeded Kailua (12-2) plays St. Joseph (8-2) in the other semifinal at 3:30 p.m. The championship game will be played at 7 p.m.

Mid-Pacific scored single runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings last night to build a 3-0 lead.

But Concepcion launched a 300-foot blast over the left-field fence on the first pitch of the bottom of the sixth.

Owls' starter Ricky Bauer then set down the next six batters to complete a five-hitter. He finished with seven strikeouts and no walks.

"I was kicking myself, because that was the first home run I gave up all season," said Bauer, a senior right-hander. "I threw him a changeup and ... Oh, my God. I should have known better than to do that to a hitter like him."

Aside from the home run, Pearl City (8-5) could not generate much offense.

Concepcion was the only runner to advance past second base and Bauer retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced.

The Chargers, who took third place in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association, were coming off an 18-hit attack against Kaiser on Monday.

"They're a good hitting team, but if you keep them off-balanced, you'll have the upper hand," Bauer said.

Mid-Pacific took a 1-0 lead in the third on Dane Marcouiller's RBI single after Kyle Yanabu's lead-off triple.

The Owls made it 2-0 in the fifth on Clint Copulos' run-scoring single. But they left the bases loaded after an 18-minute rain delay.

Matt Inouye's solo home run over the left-field fence made it 3-0 in the fifth inning.

The game was MPI's first since it won the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship on May 5.

The Owls also were without the full services of Kevin Khan, their starting left fielder and third batter, who was limited to a pinch-hitting role due to a knee injury suffered in the ILH title game.

"The kids worked real hard and stayed focused the last two weeks," Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru said.

Bauer said Muramaru "kept us in it," during the layoff, even with Khan's absence.

"(Muramaru) said we have to be like poi," Bauer said. "Even if you take a scoop away, it regroups and keeps its form."

Ricky Bauer and Matt Inouye; Shawn Benson, Jonathan Serapion (5) and Gavin Concepcion. WP—Bauer. LP—Benson.

Leading hitters: Mid-Pacific—Matt Inouye home run; Kyle Yanabu triple. Pearl City—Concepcion 2-3, homer.

Kailua 7, Kaua'i 5

Kamaile Santos allowed just two earned runs in seven innings and Jarid Kawamoto drove in two runs as Kailua downed Kaua'i at Hans L'Orange Park in Waipahu.

Santos scattered six hits with three strikeouts and one walk for the win. Kawamoto led the Surfriders with two hits in three at-bats, including a double and a triple. He drove in two runs and scored one.

Kailua (12-2), the OIA champions, won with prolific hitting and aggressive base-running.

With the score 2-2 in the fifth inning, Michael Cathcart singled to left-center field to score Derek Yonamine from second.

In the sixth, Kawika Kekaula singled to right to score Shaun Sasaki from second, then took second on the play at home. Kawamoto then slammed a double to deep left to score Kekaula.

Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Kaua'i's Mark Rodrigues walked Yonamine to score Kawamoto.

Kailua added a run in the seventh on a triple by Kawamoto to score Sasaki.

Kaua'i (6-2) rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh before Santos retired Kwinton Estacio with three consecutive strikes to end the game.

"We can do anything with the bat and running the bases," said Kailua head coach Corey Ishigo. "We're not limited to small ball."

Rodrigues lasted 5¡ innings, giving up six runs on 10 hits, with five walks and one strikeout.

Despite his struggles on the mound, Rodrigues came up big at the plate, hitting 2-for-3, including a solo homer.

Kamaile Santos and Cody Texiera-Vickery. Mark Rodrigues, Levi Rapozo (6) and Kwinton Estacio. WP—Santos. LP—Rodrigues .

Leading hitters: Kailua—Mike Cathcart 2-4, double; Kawika Kekaula 2-4; Jarid Kawamoto 2-3, double, triple, 2 RBIs. Kaua'i— Mark Rodrigues 2-3, homer, 2 runs.

St. Joseph 4, Baldwin 3

James Onaga struck out 12 and St. Joseph withstood a seventh-inning rally to beat second-seeded Baldwin at Hans L'Orange Park.

Onaga allowed one earned run on eight hits with four walks and five wild pitches.

Baldwin scored a run in the third inning and three runs in the fifth for a 4-0 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, with two outs, Baldwin scored three runs on two singles and a wild pitch. Onaga ended the game by striking out Reed Suzuki on a 3-2 count with a runner at first.

James Onaga and Ben Bautista; Lance Fujii and Kurt Suzuki. WP—Onaga. LP—Fujii .

Leading hitters: St. Joseph—Conrad Madrona double; Mike Seto triple, RBI; Ronnie Carvalho 2 RBIs. Baldwin—Jon Cabral 2-4, RBI; Kurt Suzuki double.

Moanalua 7, Waiakea 6

Lorin Nakagawa doubled to left-center field with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning to score pinch-runner Glenn Taijeron from second base to lift Moanalua at Aloha Stadium.

Abe Manutai walked to lead off the inning, then Taijeron advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jim Strombach. Nakagawa then drove a 1-1 pitch deep into the gap between two Waiakea fielders.

Moanalua, OIA runner-up, jumped to a 6-0 lead in the first inning when its first seven batters reached base. Ric Fukushima's three-run double highlighted the rally.

But reliever Bruce Nagata shut down the Menehune over the next five innings. The Warriors, the tournament's fourth seed, scored four runs in the third inning on Ryan Hanohano's three-run triple and Daniel Leite's RBI groundout.

Waiakea, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion, tied the game in the sixth inning capitalizing on three Moanalua errors, and Matthew Yamauchi's squeeze bunt.

Robert Inouye, Bruce Nagata (1), Kaleo Kaaihue (7) and Dana Yamashita; Kyle Nakamichi, Scott Batula (6) and Lorin Nakagawa. WP—Batula. LP—Nagata.

Leading hitters: Waiakea—Inouye 2-4; Ryan Hanohano 2-4, triple, 3 RBIs. Moanalua— Neal Manutai 2-3, double; Jim Strombach 2-3, triple; Ric Fukushima 1-3, double, 3 RBIs.