A brilliant pitching performance by Jayson Kramer and clutch hitting by Kip Masuda and Ryan Asato lifted Mid-Pacific past Waiakea, 2-0, yesterday and into the title game of the HHSAA/Wally Yonamine Foundation State Baseball Championships at Les Murakami Stadium.

The third-seed Owls will be seeking their fifth championship — and second title in three years — today against Punahou.

Only Iolani (eight titles) and Punahou (six titles) have won more championships than Mid-Pacific, which captured titles in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 2002. Baldwin, Kailua and Kamehameha have also won four titles.

"It feels great," said Masuda, a junior catcher, who doubled in the game's first run. "When I was in (junior varsity) and intermediate, I watched the older guys go to the state championship game. Now I get my chance. So I'm pretty stoked."

Mid-Pacific (18-5) scored a two-out run in the first inning against No. 2 seed Waiakea (15-1). The Owls added another two-out run in the fifth inning in support of Kramer.

Kramer, a junior right-hander, struck out five and threw 77 pitches in his complete-game victory. He got 13 groundball outs and stranded runners in scoring position in the second, fourth and fifth innings.

"His fastball was great and his curveball was biting really good," Masuda said. "He's just a pitcher who has no fear. He just comes at batters with everything he has."

Kramer escaped trouble in the fourth with two strikeouts and a groundout after allowing a leadoff double to Avery Kagawa.

"The score was only 1-0 and I didn't want that runner on second to come in, so I had to make my good pitches," said Kramer, who was reminded by coach Dunn Muramaru about "damage control" during a break in the action.

"I think Kramer did an outstanding job," Muramaru said. "It was probably the best job I've seen this year from start to finish. ... It was probably our team's best overall performance in a situation like that."

Kramer's counterpart, Waiakea's Ronnie Loeffler, pitched six innings and allowed two runs on six hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Loeffler and teammate Myles Ioane have signed to play baseball at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa.

"We faced a great pitcher," Loeffler said of Kramer. "You can't help it if we don't get the breaks."

Mid-Pacific opened scoring in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Chris Goya reached on infield hit, and two outs later, moved to second on Randy Rundgren's infield hit before scoring on Masuda's double.

The Owls added a run in the fifth inning. Chris Freshour singled to lead off and was replaced by pinch-runner Adam Tamashiro. One out later, Tamashiro advanced to second on Goya's sacrifice bunt and scored on Asato's single. Asato received an extra chance during his at-bat when his foul flyball was dropped by the left fielder. No error was ruled on the play.

"I always say when you come to the state tournament, you gotta be good and you gotta be lucky," Waiakea coach Tommy Correa said. "We're good enough. We just ran into a guy who had a great performance today."

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

Punahou stops No. 1 'Aiea, 4-3

Reliever Shaun Kiriu pitched a 1-2-3 seventh and got a hug from teammate Mark Veneri after Punahou defeated top-seeded 'Aiea.

The Buffanblu advanced to tonight's 8 o'clock championship against Mid-Pacific Institute in an all-Interscholastic League of Honolulu final.

A crowd of 1,924 saw all or parts of five games.

Punahou (19-6) is seeking its first title since 1989 and is making its first championship game appearance since 1997, when it lost 7-5 to Iolani. Punahou is 6-5 in title games.

Mid-Pacific is trying to reclaim the title it won in 2002, when it beat Kamehameha, 6-3. The Owls are 4-4 in title games.

"This is what states is all about," said Punahou shortstop/pitcher Landon Nakata. "You gotta love it."

Nakata played a vital role in helping the Buffanblu advance. His alert defensive play on an errant throw after a wild pitch allowed him to throw out a runner at the plate that led to the ejection of 'Aiea center fielder and No. 3 hitter Dylan Libadisos in the first inning.

Nakata also minimized damage to preserve Punahou's lead when he came in for starter Kurt Fujitani with one out and the bases loaded after 'Aiea closed to 4-2.

"Landon's been with us since he was a freshman," Punahou coach Eric Kadooka said of the junior. "He's a gamer."

With Punahou leading 1-0 on Kasey Ko's RBI single in the first, Na Ali'i threatened with two outs in the bottom of the first. Libadisos doubled to left-center and with Kepa Wong at the plate, Fujitani's first pitch was in the dirt, but within reach of catcher Robert Kurisu. Libadisos broke for third, and Kurisu's throw sailed over third baseman Shaun Kiriu. But Nakata was backing up the play and when Libadisos broke for the plate, Nakata threw home to Kurisu way ahead of the runner.

"That's heads-up baseball," Kadooka said. "That (play) was huge."

Libadisos wasn't only tagged out, but was ejected for colliding with Kurisu on the play for the third out. The National Federation rule for that is called "malicious contact." By state tournament rules, Libadisos must sit out today's third-place game against Waiakea.

"Whenever you lose a player like Dylan, it's going to cost you," said 'Aiea coach Ryan Kato, who added that Libadisos knew what he did was wrong and did not complain.

Punahou increased its lead in the third on a heads-up base running play by Michael Lam. With runners at second and third with one out, Ko hit a grounder back to 'Aiea starter Shawn Hao, who under-handed the ball to first for the out, but Lam broke for home and beat first baseman Wong's throw to make it 2-0.

The Buffanblu got two unearned runs in the fifth on two-out hits — an RBI single by Noah Phillips and an RBI double by Ko.

But 'Aiea made it a game with three in the fifth. Aaron Asher drove in a run with an RBI groundout to second. Pinch-hitter Shane Koga doubled in a run to make it 4-2 and Lance Powell's chopper back to Nakata, who relieved Fujitani, made it 4-3.

Nakata added a scoreless sixth and Kiriu came in from shortstop to pitch a perfect seventh for the save, striking out two of the three batters he faced.