No. 2 Waiakea defeats Pearl City, 5-1

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Waiakea's Matt Pattersen is mobbed by teammates after his homer in the fourth gave the Warriors a 1-0 lead over Pearl City. Waiakea won, 5-1. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

Patterson, a senior third baseman, blasted two home runs and drove in three runs for the No. 2 seed Warriors (15-0), who will play Mid-Pacific in a semifinal today at 4:30 p.m. The Chargers (11-5) will play Roosevelt at 2 p.m. in the consolation bracket.

Yesterday, Patterson recorded his first two home-run game in his high school career.

"It was a nice game," Patterson said. "Myles was pitching a hell of a game, and the defense was doing its job. I just went up there trying to help my team."

In the fourth inning with two outs, Patterson pulled a 3-2 pitch over the left-field wall for a 1-0 Waiakea lead.

In the sixth, after Avery Kagawa walked and was replaced by courtesy runner Keenen Yoshimura, Patterson blasted a 1-0 pitch to center field for a two-out, two-run home run. Waiakea added two more runs on consecutive RBI doubles by Mason Suga and Justin Pascual for a 5-0 lead.

Pearl City averted the shutout in the sixth on Thomas Yamasaki's RBI groundout.

Ioane pitched seven strong innings and allowed one unearned run on seven hits, two walks with five strikeouts.

"I felt comfortable with both my fastball and my curve, but my curve was breaking too fast, it was in the dirt for a little while," said the 6-foot left-handed Ioane, who has signed to play for the University of Hawai'i-Manoa baseball team.

"Ioane continues to throw an excellent game," Waiakea coach Tommy Correa said. "He keeps us in the game, throws a lot a strikes and allows us a chance to win."

Ioane pitched out of jam in the third inning. With one out and a man on third, Ioane made a diving catch on a pop up and got the next batter to ground out to short.

In the fifth inning, Pearl City got three consecutive hits, but two runners were thrown out on the basepaths.

"We had our chances," Pearl City coach Mel Seki said. "We made some good baserunning, and we made some poor ones. In essence, that kind of hurt us."

Seki called Ioane one of the better left-handers Pearl City has faced this season, and said Ioane "stacks up real well" with Kalani's Randy Kitagawa and Kaua'i's Alec Reichle.

"He has good stuff," Seki said. "He's clever on the mound and he just shut us down today."

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2458.