Saint Louis' Lucas Gonsalves was the No. 9 hitter who produced like a clean-up guy yesterday against Kamehameha.

Gonsalves batted 2 for 3, including a go-ahead three-run triple in the fourth inning, as Saint Louis beat Kamehameha, 6-4, in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu double-elimination tournament at Ala Wai field.

"We were down one run and I had to get some more runs in for my team, so I clutched up in the situation that I needed to, and we got three runs off of that," Gonsalves said.

Gonsalves' two-out hit to left-center on the first pitch of the at-bat scored Cole Shidaki, Jordan Fukumoto and Kaden Kamoe, and put Saint Louis ahead 4-3.

"A change-up, he caught me a little bit in front, but I kept my weight back and drove it to the outfield," Gonsalves said.

The Kamehameha left fielder made a diving effort for Gonsalves' hit, but the ball went off his glove and rolled toward the outfield fence.

"That's baseball, a game of seconds and inches," said Kamehameha coach Vern Ramie.

Gonsalves scored later in the inning on a throwing error by the shortstop to make it 5-3. He also doubled and scored an insurance run in the sixth on Tamatoa DeMello's single.

Saint Louis, ranked No. 2 in The Advertiser's Top 10 poll, improved to 17-2 overall and 3-1 in the tournament. No. 10 Kamehameha finished its season at 9-9-1 and 3-2.

Saint Louis' victory means the Crusaders, Punahou and Mid-Pacific will represent the ILH in the Wally Yonamine Foundation State Championships.

But Ramie said he might protest a "couple of issues" from yesterday's game. One of which was the playing of the final inning.

No new inning was supposed to start after 6:15 p.m. because a soccer league had a permit for use of the field. The plate umpire said he had 6:13 when the final inning started with Saint Louis ahead 6-3.

The game started a little after the scheduled 3:45 p.m. start.

Ramie conceded after the game: "I wish all of the ILH teams the best of luck in the state tournament."

Saint Louis will have to beat Punahou (11-5-1, 3-0) twice to claim the ILH tournament and overall title. The teams will play tomorrow at 3:45 p.m. at Ala Wai field, with the "if-necessary" game Friday.

If Punahou, ranked No. 3, wins the tournament title tomorrow, it will play Saint Louis for the overall league title Friday.

If Saint Louis wins tomorrow and loses Friday, the teams will play Saturday for the overall league title.

"They aren't four-time defending (state) champions for no reason," said Saint Louis coach Duane Fraticelli of Punahou.

Josh Saio picked up the win yesterday for Saint Louis by allowing three runs in five innings. DeMello, who started in center field, pitched the final two innings for the save.

The Warriors had a run in and runners at first and second with one out in the seventh, but DeMello got the next hitter to ground to shortstop Danny Higa, who flipped to second baseman Gonsalves for the force. The relay to first was late, but the umpire ruled the base runner didn't slide at the bag and awarded the game-ending double play.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8041.

KAMEHAMEHA (9-9-1, 3-2) 001 200 1—4 8 2

SAINT LOUIS (17-2, 3-1) 100 401 X—6 7 0

Patrick Akana, Kainoa Toriki (5), David Lee (5), Kapena Kalehuawehe-Gomes (6) and Keanu Carmichael. Josh Saio, Tamatoa DeMello (6) and Keoni Haina, Moses Samia (6). W — Saio. L — Akana. SV — DeMello.

Leading hitters — Kamehameha: Kalehuawehe-Gomes triple; Piikea Kitamura double; Ula Nakamura 2-3, double, homer, 2 RBIs. Saint Louis: DeMello 2-3; Lucas Gonsalves 2-3, double, triple, 3 RBIs, 2 runs.