"This feels unreal," Adachi said. "I was slumping the whole season. He threw me a change-up outside and my bat just stayed there. I just hit the ball."

The Red Raiders will play defending state champion and top seed Punahou (18-2), the Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion, in today's quarterfinal game at 4:30 p.m.

"That's why we're here," said Kaua'i coach Henry Ibia Jr. "We like these challenges."

Yates led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk and moved to second on Stanton Yoshimori's sacrifice bunt. After a flyout and a walk to Russell McClusky, Adachi slapped a 2-2 pitch from Matthew Ko into short right field. The throw home from right fielder Tate Ikehara was in time, but Yates slid headfirst behind catcher Rylan Nakahata's tag and touched the base with his left hand.

"The catcher was covering the front part of the plate, so I tried to go as far behind him as I could," Yates said. "I got around it. I was safe."

Pearl City coach Mel Seki did not dispute the close call.

"When a kid goes around the plate like that, most likely he didn't touch home plate," Seki said. "But the umpire called him safe and that's the ball game. We won a few with close calls, and now we've lost a few very close ones like that. That's the nature of baseball."

Earlier, Kauai'i right fielder Blake Gingerich preserved a 3-3 tie when he fielded Nakahata's single and threw out Thomas Yamasaki at home in the top of the eighth inning.

"I was trying to field the ball and get it there as quick as possible," said Gingerich, who began the inning as a defensive replacement. "I knew that was for the game."

Pearl City took a 2-0 lead in the first inning and made it 3-0 in the second inning. The Red Raiders scored two runs in the bottom of the second and tied the score at 3 in the fourth.