In a meeting between the two youngest teams in the tournament, Baldwin rallied past Mid-Pacific, 3-1, yesterday in DataHouse/HHSAA Softball Division I State Championship quarterfinal action.

The No. 3 seed and Maui Interscholastic League champ Bears improved to 14-0 in the regular and postseason and will face No. 2 seed and O'ahu Interscholastic Association champion Roosevelt (15-1) in today's 5 p.m. semifinal at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

The game will be televised live statewide on OC16.

Baldwin and ILH runner-up MPI (11-5) each has only two seniors. But the Bears' two seniors — shortstop Shauna Ah Yen and catcher Malia Killam — plus five juniors were on Baldwin's 2007 state championship team, and that experience proved valuable against the Owls, who are in the state tournament for the first time in school history.

"Our experience paid off," said Bears coach Joseph Druan. "Our seniors are such good leaders, I don't have to say anything in the dugout."

MPI went up, 1-0, in the bottom on the first inning after Kaydi Kochi's RBI infield single, and clung to that lead over the next four innings behind the pitching of freshman starter Keiki Carlos, who tossed a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts in Wednesday's first-round victory over Hilo.

But Baldwin tied it in the sixth when Ah Yen's one-out single to right field scored Jessica Arruiza from third base, and then added two more runs after a two-out infield error.

Carlos ended up pitching a three-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks, allowing only one earned run.

"That freshman is a very good pitcher; she pitched an excellent game," Duran said. "But we've kept on battling back all year long. The other team would get ahead, and we always come back. And our defense is really strong."

Bears starter Kaitlyn Watanabe pitched a complete game and gave up 10 hits, but stranded 10 runners behind an errorless defense.

"We didn't cash in on our opportunities, and then we let them back in it with errors," Owls coach Willie Quinn said.

Watanabe, a sophomore right-hander, said her veteran defense boosted her confidence.

"All the girls tell me, 'Don't worry, we got your back,' " Watanabe said. "(The seniors and juniors) told us to relax, to believe we could do it."

BALDWIN (14-0) 000 003 0—3 3 0

MID-PACIFIC (11-5) 100 000 0—1 10 2

Kaitlyn Watanabe and Malia Killam. Keiki Carlos and Kaydi Kochi. W — Watanabe. L — Carlos.

Leading hitters — Baldwin: Shauna Ah Yen 1-3, RBI, run. Mid-Pacific: Carlos 1-4, double; Corrie Murashige 2-3; Kochi 3-4, RBI.