WAILUKU — In 1998, the names included Van Delos Santos, Ian Shimabuku, Brent Fukagawa, and Jonah Abreu.

Last night in front of an overflow crowd at Maehara Stadium, it was Mitchell Crim, Travis Manuel, Jacob Babauta and Jordan Agcaoili — the four seniors on the roster — as the Maui High School baseball team won its first Maui Interscholastic League pennant in a decade with a 2-1 victory over Baldwin.

''Finally,'' Sabers coach Lee Yonamine said to The Maui News before getting drenched by cold water. ''This team just never said die. Before the game, I brought the four seniors over and told them, 'I don't care what happens, you guys have to lead the team.' They took it in their hands. It didn't look good until that one inning, but they got it done.''

That one inning was a fateful sixth for Baldwin (12-4), which was clinging to a 1-0 lead at the time, as the Sabers (13-3) finally broke through the Bears' stellar defense, which rang up a .970 fielding percentage this season.

Two costly errors nearly instantly turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth for the Sabers.

Josh Gascon started the rally with a one-out base hit and moved to second on a wild pitch.

Jordan Inamasu then grounded to third, but the throw from Kaulana Ching got by first baseman Brock Shishido for an error on Ching, and Gascon scampered all the way home from second to tie the score.

On the same play, Shishido was charged with a throwing error after he chased down the ball and threw past catcher James Uwekoolani, allowing Inamasu to go all the way to third. Inamasu scored on an RBI single by Justin Fontanilla for a 2-1 lead. Fontanilla stole second and took third on a passed ball before Peter Ibanez walked to bring Agcaoili to the plate.

That spelled the end for the courageous Skyler Cabacungan, who eliminated Kamehameha-Maui with a nine-inning, 4-3 win on Friday in which he struck out 13, clinching a state berth for Baldwin in the process. He went 5 2/3 more innings yesterday, striking out 10 more and allowing just three hits.

Agcaoili drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases for Babauta, who struck out on three pitches.

Then it was the Sabers' turn to shine on defense as third baseman Ronald Asuncion dove to his left to snag a sharp grounder by Jordan Negrini, rose to his feet and threw a laser to first for the out. Kainalu Garso grounded out to shortstop Agcaoili for the second out and Ching flied out to right to end the inning.

After Maui went in order in the top of the seventh, Jarin Hayase flew out to center on the first pitch of the final frame. Pinch-hitter Nathan Clark popped out to Crim on the mound and Todd Miyazono, the regular first baseman batting for the first time on the night after entering in the sixth, was hit by a pitch to bring Cabacungan, 0-for-3 on the night, and his .455 batting average to the plate.

He flew out to Justin Fontanilla in center field on the seventh pitch of the at-bat to set off the Maui celebration.

Crim, a 6-foot, 150-pound right-hander headed to Oregon Institute of Technology to play baseball, finished with a five-hitter on the mound with two strikeouts and no walks.

''I definitely wanted the ball tonight,'' said Crim, the regular center fielder. ''My mind is blank right now, but I knew I could go pretty far, but I didn't know I could go the whole way.

''My defense really helped me out and we knew it was going to be close, closer than the last time I pitched.''

Crim won an 8-1 complete-game decision last Monday when the Sabers won the regular-season title.

After playing five games in 15 days, the final run tally was Maui High 18, Baldwin 13 as the Sabers won the series 3-2.

As last night's game remained scoreless through 3 1/2 innings, it quickly became apparent that the first run of the game could be a big one.

Cabacungan allowed no hits through four innings, while Crim allowed only four.

The fourth Baldwin hit was Hayase's double on one bounce to the wall at the 370-foot mark in left field with two outs and Ching on first. Ching scored on the play when the ball hit the top of the fence and bounced back into play. Maui left fielder Gascon bobbled the ball for a moment and Ching crossed the plate.

An error was charged to Gascon — allowing Ching to score — even though it appeared he would have scored anyway. Uwekoolani was thrown out on a close play when he bounced a short hopper down the third-base line and Crim just got him at first to end the inning.

That play brought an argument from a couple of Baldwin coaches, including head coach Jon Viela.

''We just didn't get any timely hits, but Mitch Crim had a lot to do with that,'' Viela said. ''We had five hits but only one run and they had two runs on only three hits. I think the last column on the scoreboard (errors, of which the Bears had three) affected us the most.''

The Sabers got their first hit of the game when Agcaoili rolled one into right field with two outs in the fifth, as Cabacungan started to finally show some weariness.

''Skyler pitched his heart out,'' Viela said. ''Just look at him. He played how we all knew he could. He just showed how well he can play this game and how much he loves it. He wanted the ball and I had to pull it from his hands when he came out.''

The Bears left a runner on base in every inning but the sixth, including one at third in the second inning. Crim struck out Uwekoolani to end that threat.

In the top of the third, the Sabers got their first two runners on when Agcaoili walked and Babauta reached on a third-strike passed ball to put runners at first and third with no outs.

Eventually, Agcaoili was out trying to score on a ball that got away from Uwekoolani, the freshman catcher filling in for regular starter Riley Beeson. Uwekoolani recovered and got the ball to Cabacungan in time to tag out a sliding Agcaoili.

Babauta eventually reached third base, but Crim struck out to end the inning for the Sabers, who also left six runners on base.

''This is just such a great rivalry,'' Viela said. ''They put the pressure on us tonight, played a hell of a game, and just did not stop fighting. That is a sign of a good ball club.''

In the end, Yonamine pointed to his coaching staff that includes Shimabuku, Fukagawa and Abreu from that 1998 squad that won its third straight MIL pennant. While Delos Santos went on to play at Washington State — and was in the stands for the game — the trio of coaches made sure the current Sabers knew what was on the line.

''Those guys on the staff knew how much this meant and they made sure that the team knew it, too,'' Yonamine said. ''These two teams are so evenly matched, it was just going to come down to who made the mistakes and who didn't. My staff made sure it wasn't us tonight.''

Maui 000 002 0—2 3 1

Baldwin 000 100 0—1 5 3

Mitchell Crim and Jordan Inamasu. Skyler Cabacungan, Brock Shishido (6) and James Uwekoolani.

2B—B, Kaulana Ching, Jarin Hayase.

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