Mid-Pacific holds off Roosevelt's rally, 4-3
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
A poised Harrison Kuroda pitched out of seventh-inning jam to help third-seeded Mid-Pacific Institute hold off relentless Roosevelt, 4-3, last night in quarterfinal action of the HHSAA/Wally Yonamine Foundation State Baseball Championships at Les Murakami Stadium.
The Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion Owls (17-5) will play second-seeded and Big Island champion Waiakea (15-0), the only undefeated team in the tournament, in a 4:30 p.m. semifinal today.
"It doesn't matter how you get to the semifinals, as long as you get there," MPI coach Dunn Muramaru said.
The Owls and Warriors each reached last year's semifinals, only to be eliminated by Kailua and eventual state champion Kamehameha, respectively.
Kuroda helped the Owls win the 2002 state championship as a sophomore and pitched in last year's heart-breaking semifinal 4-3 loss to Kailua, which won on a home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Last night, he took a 4-0 lead into the seventh against Roosevelt.
Joshua Danz walked on four pitches to start the inning, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Riki Nakagawa's ground single to left. Left fielder Nick Furumoto mishandled the ball, allowing Nakagawa to take second.
Ha'aheo Shea-Miyamoto came in to pinch run and scored on Ricky Eusebio's inside-the-park home run to left when the ball got past Furumoto, who slipped on the wet turf. (The game was delayed 24 minutes with one out in the top of the sixth because of a downpour).
But nothing could faze Kuroda, a senior heading for the University of Hawai'i. He got the next three batters on grounders — two to shortstop Randy Rundgren and one to himself — to deny the Rough Riders (11-5) a comeback.
Kuroda said the delay didn't have a bearing on his performance. When play resumed with one out, he walked the first batter he faced and threw a wild pitch, but got the next two batters out without allowing a run.
Muramaru said he never considered changing pitchers after the delay because "we cannot burn (use up) the other pitchers."
And even when Kuroda allowed the three runs, Muramaru stayed with the veteran right-hander.
"He's the best we've got," Muramaru said. "And he can handle the adversity."
Kuroda credited classmate, first baseman Chris Freshour, with reminding him to stay composed.
"He (Freshour) came out and shoved the baseball in my face, going, 'C'mon now. We gotta do it,' " Kuroda said. " 'Gotta do it right now. We don't want to use another arm. We have a big game tomorrow.' "
Kuroda allowed three runs on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts in the complete-game performance.
The Owls scored early by taking advantage of the wildness of Roosevelt starter Kalani Yoshimura, who walked six and gave up two hits in 2¡ innings. Two walks by lead-off hitter Chris Goya were cashed in for runs, while a walk to Kip Masuda with the bases loaded scored another.
What turned out to be a pivotal run in the fourth came after Freshour reached on a two-base error when left fielder Danz dropped a fly ball. Two outs later, Freshour scored on Ryan Asato's ground single to center, his third single of the game.
In the other dugout, it was a heart-breaker, such as Kuroda experienced a year ago.
"We've been playing with heart and emotion and it showed again today," Roosevelt coach Kerry Higa said. "Today, we just fell a little bit short. Still proud of the guys on how they never gave up."
Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8042.
