Posted on: Saturday, April 30, 2005
Punahou turns aside Iolani, 5-1
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
Even with a less-than-perfect performance in the "dog days of April," the Punahou School baseball team is tough to beat.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser "We felt a little flat today, but with Jared on the mound we always have confidence," said Buffanblu designated hitter Bucky Aona, who slammed a two-run homer in the fifth inning for a 5-1 lead. "We know that Jared can keep us in the game and give us a chance to win."
The Raiders took a 1-0 lead on Marc Factora's sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning, but the Buffanblu answered with two runs in the bottom half when Kyle Fujimoto scored on a wild pitch and Landon Nakata scored on an error.
Iolani had a good scoring opportunity in the fourth, but could not capitalize despite three Punahou errors. With runners on first and third and no outs, Travis Nishioka lifted a fly ball to right field that was caught by Ka'ohi Downing. First baseman Kasey Ko cut off Downing's throw home and got the runner on first in a rundown, then shortstop Nakata threw home to catch pinch-runner Justin Nakamura breaking from third for a double play.
The next batter, Brett Hasegawa, lined a single to center, and then Greg Hackler reached on an error, but Pate got out of the jam with another fly ball to right.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser The Buffanblu made it 3-1 in the fifth on Nakata's run-scoring groundout, then Aona blasted a 1-0 fastball over the "365" sign in left-center field.
Iolani made one last threat in the seventh, loading the bases with two outs and the tying run at the plate. But Pate again escaped the jam with a force play at second.
"That's kind of been our year — we can't seem to get the clutch hit at the right time," Yonamine said. "But (Pate) changes his speeds well and he hits his spots. And he was still able to get guys out even when he didn't have his best stuff; that's the mark of a good pitcher."
Kadooka said the unusually long ILH regular season, which will last 21 games, plus the constant tough competition is testing his team's mettle. But Aona said none of those factors should affect how the Buffanblu play.
"It has been a long season and we've got some injuries," Aona said. "It's great to be ranked, but we try not to let any of that stuff get to our heads. We just try to play the same Punahou baseball all the time."
Wally Marciel and Riley Yamamoto. Jared Pate and Michael Chock. W—Pate. L—Marciel.
Leading hitters: Iolani—Brett Hasegawa 2-2. Punahou—Kyle Fujimoto 3-3; Bucky Aona homer, 2 RBIs.
Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2456.
Chester Wilson scored the go-ahead run on wild pitch in the top of the fifth inning to lift the Crusaders over the Warriors at Aloha Stadium.
Kamehameha had taken a 5-3 lead with four runs in the third inning, but Saint Louis tied it in the fourth after a run-scoring groundout by Jordan Duropan and Ryan Sasaki's sacrifice fly.
The Warriors put runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Saint Louis got a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
Sasaki and Justin Doane each had two hits for the Crusaders.
Nick Freitas, Ryson Mauricio and Stuart Kam each batted 2 for 4 to lead the Warriors.
Cameron Baynes and Sheldon Santiago. Koa Kaleo, Waylen Sing Chow (4), David Parrow (7) and Stuart Kam. W—Bayne. L—Sing Chow.
Leading hitters: Saint Louis—Justin Doane 2-4, double, 2 runs; Ryan Sasaki 2-4, RBI. Kamehameha—Nick Freitas 2-4, RBI; Ryson Mauricio 2-4, triple; Kam 2-4.
Jayson Kramer had three hits and three RBIs to propel the Owls.
Levi Goeas, Tyler Simao (5), Nick Miyamoto (6) and Aaron Chicote. Jared Hara and Kip Masuda. W—Hara. L—Goeas.
Leading hitters: Pac-Five—Miyamoto 2-3. Mid-Pacific—Chad Takabuki 2-4; Masuda 2-3, double, 2 runs; Jayson Kramer 3-4, triple, 3 RBIs.
Reported by Pua Hayashi
Nick Holmberg pitched a three-hitter for the Spartans.
Evander Ledward, George Martin (5) and Kai Higa. Nick Holmberg and Brian Tabata. W—Holmberg. L—Ledward.
Leading hitters: Damien—Duncan Ebert 2-3, double. Maryknoll—Brennan Young double; Matt Fukumoto double.
Reported by Duane Eldredge
Iolani found that out yesterday in a 5-1 loss to the Buffanblu, who are No. 15 in USA Today's Super 25 national rankings. Punahou ace Jared Pate pitched a three-hitter and withstood four errors to help his team improve to 27-2-1 overall and 14-1-1 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu. Iolani, which tied Punahou 5-5 in 10 innings in their first meeting, fell to 6-9-1.
Punahou catcher Michael Chock tags Iolani's Justin Nakamura to complete a key double play in the fourth inning.
"(The double play) was crucial, because they got multiple hits and could have blown the game open," Buffanblu coach Eric Kadooka said. "But that's something we work on — situations with runners on first and third — so (Downing) hit the cutoff man and then Landon made a great throw home."
Punahou's Bucky Aona is greeted at home after belting a two-run homer in the fifth inning against Iolani at Aloha Stadium.
Saint Louis 6, Kamehameha 5
Mid-Pacific 8, Pac-Five 0
Maryknoll 5, Damien 0
