Iolani, Kamehameha fall, but remain tied for league lead
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Iolani School baseball team regained sole possession of first place in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu yesterday afternoon, and held it for about six hours.
But, as the Raiders learned earlier this season, first place is a very slippery position in the ILH.
Punahou knocked Iolani back into a tie with Kamehameha last night after sophomore Landon Nakata drilled a line single to right-center field with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Buffanblu a dramatic 4-3 victory at Ala Wai Field.
Earlier in the afternoon, Pac-Five shocked Kamehameha 13-9 to drop the Warriors (10-3) a half-game behind Iolani. But that difference was made up after Punahou (9-4) rallied for three runs in the fifth inning against the Raiders (10-3) and then won it on Nakata's hit which brought Kasey Ko home for the game-winner.
Each team has one regular season game remaining: Kamehameha plays Saint Louis (7-5-1) at Joey DeSa Field and Iolani will play Damien (2-10-1) at Ala Wai. Both games are set for 3:45 p.m. Tuesday.
If the Warriors and Raiders win — or if they both lose — there will be a playoff at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Ala Wai to determine the regular-season champion, who also earns an automatic berth in the state tournament.
But the way the wacky ILH season has gone so far, nobody dares look past Tuesday.
"We can't even think about a playoff right now," Iolani coach Dean Yonamine said. "We need to beat Damien first."
The Raiders looked to be on their way to beating the Buffanblu and securing sole possession of first last night. They took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on Darin Yamashita's RBI groundout and made it 2-0 in the third when Kelly Teramoto scored on a wild pitch.
"But we knew going in that this league is too tough to hold somebody to zero runs the whole game," Yonamine said.
Punahou proved him right in the fifth inning, scoring on RBI singles from Michael Lam and Ko, plus an error. The 3-2 lead held until two outs in the top of the seventh, when Iolani's Kala Ka'aihue was down to his final strike.
Reliever Jared Pate delivered a 2-2 pitch over the plate and Ka'aihue checked his swing. The Buffanblu cheered and started to head for the dugout thinking the game was over.
But the pitch was ruled low for a ball, and an appeal to first to see if Ka'aihue had swung was unsuccessful. Ka'aihue then drew ball four, bringing Reid Saito to the plate.
Saito then drilled a triple just inside the right field foul line to score courtesy runner Rysen Morikuni to tie the game.
Pate finally got out of the inning with a groundout.
Raiders freshman reliever Walter Marciel got two quick strikeouts to start the bottom of the seventh, before walking Ko and Mark Veneri.
Marciel then got ahead 1-2 on Nakata, but Nakata slammed a fastball into the gap and over the head of right fielder Bert Mitsunaga to easily bring Ko home from second.
Punahou coach Eric Kadooka said the game-winning hit was a much-welcomed sight.
"We finally got a break; all of the balls we hit like that earlier in the season would have been caught," Kadooka said. "Even if we weren't playing for first place, we have a lot of pride for our team and our school. And we owe it to the league to try our best to win every game, especially against Iolani."
Iolani (10-3) 011 000 1 — 3 4 2
Punahou (9-4) 000 030 1 — 4 9 2
Sean Freas, Walter Marciel (5) and Kala Ka'aihue; Shaun Kiriu, Jared Pate (5) and Michael Kim. W — Pate. L — Marciel.
Leading hitters: Iolani — Reid Saito 2-2, triple, RBI; Ka'aihue double. Punahou — Michael Lam 2-4, RBI; Kasey Ko 1-2, RBI; Kyle Kabei 2-3, triple; Mark Veneri triple.
• PAC-FIVE 13, KAMEHAMEHA 9: Owen Simmons batted 3-for-3 with four runs scored, and Jacob Mellor and Colby Holt each drove in two runs as the Wolfpack surprised the Warriors.
Pac-Five turned three double plays and Kamehameha committed five errors at Ala Wai Field.
Kamehameha (10-3) 422 000 1— 9 13 5
Pac-Five (5-7-1) 305 302 0—13 13 1
David Parrow, Jacob Cockett (2), Cameron Purdy (3), Brandon Ogimi (3), A.J. Satele (5) and Baba Merino. Owen Simmons, Nick Miyamoto (2), Andrew Ontai (3), Miyamoto (7) and Colby Holt. W—Ontai. L—Ogimi.
Leading hitters: Kamehameha—Keoni Ruth 2-2, triple, 3 runs; Nick Freitas 2 runs; J.P. Kennedy 3-5, double, 2 RBIs; Merino 2-3, double, 2 RBIs; Ryson Mauricio triple; Travis Young double. Pac-Five—Jeris Nakamasu 2-4, double; Jacob Mellor double, 2 RBIs; Simmons 3-3, 4 runs; Holt 2-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Ryan Urabe 2-4.
• SAINT LOUIS 6, DAMIEN 3: Pono Moises hit a two-run triple and scored on a passed ball in the sixth inning as the Crusaders beat the Monarchs at Ala Wai Field.
Chester Wilson and winning pitcher Bobby George each had two hits for Saint Louis.
Damien (2-10-1) 002 010 0—3 7 2
Saint Louis (7-5-1) 003 003 x—6 7 2
Chase Matsuda and Nick Zieser. Bobby George, Michael Grado (5), Chester Wilson (7) and Jowen Thornton-Murray. W—George. L—Matsuda
Leading hitters: Damien—Justin Cole 2-run triple; Raymond Alapai 2-3, double. Saint Louis—Wilson 2-3; Pono Moises 2-run triple; George 2-2, triple.
• MID-PACIFIC 15, MARYKNOLL 2: Ryan Asato smashed a three-run homer in the first inning, setting the tone as the Owls dominated the Spartans at Ala Wai Field.
Mid-Pacific's Harrison Kuroda went the distance allowing three hits, walking three and striking out seven batters.
Maryknoll (1-12) 001 10— 2 3 1
Mid-Pacific (6-6-1) 425 4X—15 15 1
Ryan Matsumoto, Nick Holmberg (3), Brian Tabata (3) and Scott Fukuhara, Kawika Calizar. Harrison Kuroda and Kip Masuda. W—Kuroda. L—Matsumoto.
Leading hitters: Mid-Pacific—Troy Hanzawa 2-3, 2 triples; Ryan Leong double; Joanthan Hee 4-4, 5 RBIs; Kevin Whalen double, 2 RBIs; Ryan Asato 2-3, homer, double, 4 RBIs; Randy Rundgren 2 RBIs; Masuda 2-3.
