Mid-Pacific hands Iolani its first loss
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
Two Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball teams traditionally known for clean, low-scoring games went toe-to-toe for seven wild innings yesterday, with Mid-Pacific Institute finishing off previously unbeaten Iolani, 13-12.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Ryan Asato's line single with no outs in the bottom of the seventh scored Marc Inamasu from third base for the winning run just a few minutes before darkness fell upon the MPI field.
Mid-Pacific's Justin Kashiwaeda is hit by a pitch by Iolani's Wally Marciel to lead off the third inning.
When the dust finally settled, the teams combined for 25 runs on 22 hits, with an uncharacteristic eight errors and eight pitchers seeing action. More importantly, the Owls' victory drops the Raiders (6-1) into a first-place tie with Kamehameha, also 6-1 after an 8-1 win over Maryknoll.
Mid-Pacific, the defending state champion, is 3-3-1. The Owls took a 12-4 lead after an eight-run fourth inning, but won only after the Raiders stormed back with two runs in the fifth and six in the sixth.
But MPI reliever Jayson Kramer stranded Iolani runners at second and third in the top of the seventh and Inamasu led off the bottom half with a single and advanced to third on an error.
Asato then drilled a 2-1 fastball into left centerfield to end it.
"It was getting dark; I just wanted to make contact," said Asato, who went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs. "I haven't been hitting, so this was a nice wake-up."
It would have been tough to sleep through this one.
"There's no certain way we play this year," Owls coach Dunn Muramaru said. "That championship is gone, buried. Now we have to battle."
Raiders coach Dean Yonamine said the same goes for his team.
"If anybody told us in the preseason that we'd be 6-1 after the first round, we'd have taken it in a heartbeat," Yonamine said.
Iolani (6-1) 011 226 0 — 12 10 3
MPI (3-3-1) 004 800 1 — 13 12 5
Wally Marciel, Jon Sakoda (4), Dustin Goto (4), Sean Freas (4), Eric Muraoka (7) and Kala Ka'aihue; Grant Yamaguchi, Conan Young (6), Jayson Kramer (6) and Kip Masuda. W —Kramer. L — Freas.
Leading hitters: Iolani — Ka'aihue 3-4, double, 3 RBIs; Kahiwa Letman 2-3, triple, 3 RBIs, Reid Saito 2-4, double, Kelly Teramoto 1-3, double, 2 RBIs. MPI — Ryan Asato 3-4, double, 3 RBIs; Troy Hanzawa 2-5, triple, 3 RBIs.
