After 14 intense regular season baseball games — plus a 15th (playoff) one for Saint Louis and Mid-Pacific — each of the eight teams in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu will roll up their sleeves and get set for another heated run starting Saturday.

Saint Louis (14-1) won the regular season title Tuesday with a tight 3-1 victory over MPI, but that was only half the battle. To capture the league's overall championship — which would be their first since 1989 — the Crusaders will need to either win the ILH's double-elimination tournament or defeat the team that does in another playoff.

The tournament begins Saturday with doubleheaders at Ala Wai Field and Hans L'Orange: At Ala Wai, No. 4 seed 'Iolani (8-6) will face No. 5 Kamehameha (6-7-1) at 9 a.m., followed by No. 2 Mid-Pacific (13-2) vs. No. 7 Pac-Five (3-11) at noon.

At Hans L'Orange, No. 1 Saint Louis (14-1) will play No. 8 Maryknoll (0-14) at 9 a.m., followed by No. 3 Punahou (8-5-1) vs. No. 6 Damien (4-10) at noon.

Saint Louis has clinched one of the league's three state tournament berths by virtue of its regular season title.

If the Crusaders do not win the tournament, the tournament winner will earn a state tournament berth and will play Saint Louis for the overall ILH championship.

Regular season runner-up Mid-Pacific can clinch a state tournament berth by either winning the tournament or by finishing second. If the Owls finish third or lower, they would either clinch a state berth or play off with the tournament runner-up (other than Saint Louis).

Four-time defending state champion Punahou, which finished 8-5-1 and third in the regular season, must finish at least third in the tournament or have Saint Louis and MPI both finish in the top two to have a chance at a state berth.

Even if the Buffanblu take third in the tournament, they could fail to gain a state berth if Saint Louis does not finish first or second. If Punahou finishes below third in the tournament and Saint Louis and Mid-Pac both finish 1 or 2, the Buffanblu would play the tournament's third-place team for the final state berth.

'Iolani athletic director Carl Schroers, the ILH baseball coordinator, said he and all eight league coaches met for at least two hours a few weeks ago to determine the possible outcomes of the tournament and how they translate into state tournament berths. Eleven different scenarios are possible.

"They (the coaches) all agreed that this is how we're going to do it," Schroers said.

The tournament will continue Tuesday.

OIA WRAPS UP REGULAR SEASON THIS WEEKEND

The O'ahu Interscholastic Association baseball regular season enters its final weekend with first place in the Red Conference Eastern Division at stake.

Kailua (9-2) plays at Kaiser (8-3) at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow. If Kaiser wins, the teams will be declared East co-champs and a tiebreaker or possibly a coin flip will be used to determine the division's No. 1 seed for the playoffs.

MPI HIRES BASKETBALL, VOLLEYBALL COACHES

Nate Hu has been hired as boys basketball coach at Mid-Pacific, and Matt Galacia will take over the Owls' girls volleyball program, the school announced through a press release.

Hu, an MPI graduate and teacher, spent 10 years coaching at the JV and intermediate levels. He takes over for Kevin O'Connell, who resigned to spend more time with his family, according to the release. Galacia takes over for Lia Young-Hunt, who also resigned to spend more time with her family, the school said.

Read Wes' blog on prep sports at http://preptalk.honadvblogs.com