"We're not defending anything, we're out here to take something," Punahou coach Eric Kadooka said. "We have to get after people from the get-go. We can't let the game come to us and respond. We're going to try to constantly put pressure on people."

Jared Pate and Scott Hiramoto, who are second cousins, combined on a no-hitter for the Buffanblu (19-2-1), who will play Waiakea (13-2) in today's semifinals at 5:30 p.m.

The lopsided game against Kaua'i (12-2) allowed Punahou to pull its top pitcher, Pate, after two innings and preserve him for the tournament. Pate faced just seven batters and recorded one strikeout, one walk and one hit batter. He threw 23 pitches.

"We came out strong and we wanted to get out to an early lead," Pate said. "We don't have a lot of pitching, so we want to save our arms as much as we can."

Hiramoto pitched the final three innings and struck out five of the nine batters he faced to earn the victory.

"To win a tournament, you're going to need a lot of guys to step up and Scott did," Kadooka said. "Our team is based around 30 guys. They all need to perform."

Kadooka said either Carl Graves or Pate will get the starting pitching assignment for today's game, and added, "You never save anybody. If we have to throw everybody tomorrow, we'll throw everybody tomorrow."

Punahou took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when lead-off batter Landon Nakata reached third on a three-base error by the right fielder and scored on Kyle Fujimoto's ground out. Bucky Aona followed with a solo home run that cleared both fences in left field.

"I was looking curveball all the way," Aona said. "He threw one inside and I was able to turn on it and drive it out."

The Buffanblu made it 8-0 in the second inning when they sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs on five hits, two walks and a wild pitch. Michael Chock hit a run-scoring double, Fujimoto had a two-run single and Steven Dannaway added a two-run double in the inning.

Punahou increased its lead to 10-0 when Kaohi Downing led off the third inning with a triple and scored on Chock's sacrifice fly. Pinch hitter Paul Sneider followed with a walk and was replaced by pinch runner Reyn Kubota, who scored on Nakata's double.

"You better have a pitcher like Pate to have a chance to beat Punahou," said Kaua'i coach Hank Ibia Jr. "They're tough and they can hit. The only guy who can beat them is their own pitcher."