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MANOA - Sophomore southpaw pitcher Kaden Anderson saved his own win, though not statistically.

After pitching five strong innings, he went to play right field and made an incredible running catch to deep right-center field to help No. 4 Baldwin preserve a 3-2 win against No. 1 Kamehameha in the semifinals of the Wally Yonamine Foundation Division I state baseball tournament.

The win set up a first all-Maui final Saturday at Moanalua High School against Valley Isle rival Maui, No. 3 in the ScorlngLive Power Rankings and the second seed in the tournament, which survived rain scares in the first three days. The Sabers (14-3) made this historic finale by beating Saint Louis, 1-0, with a lone hit, an RBI single Nicholas Nashiwa.

"Maui High stuck it to us in the MIL," Baldwin coach Craig Okita said of the Sabers, who took 3 of 5 MIL meetings, including the MIL title. "Hopefully, we can play a better game and not make the mistakes. If can win another one-run game, we'll take that."

The question is what was more amazing: Anderson's game-saving catch or the fact he was making his first pitching appearance of the season. Anderson pitched five-plus innings, allowing two runs, five hits and two walks with five strikeouts. He needed help from Kip Watanabe and freshman sensation Jayden Perry-Waikiki to wrap up the final two innings. Perry-Waikiki entered the game with two out and runners at first and second with a 3-2 lead. Pinch hitter Alakai Kiakona smashed a drive to the right-center alley, but Anderson, who moved to the outfield during the pitching change, raced toward the alley and hauled in the drive, sending the Bears' faithful to a loud cheer.

"That catch was pure faith," Anderson said, "I felt the energy that everybody had faith in me. God's hand. Once I seen the ball of the bat, I knew I had it."

"That was a game-saver right there," Okita said. "He thought I was taking him out; I told him go out there. That was a big play.

"All year long, when those plays come up against Maui High, we don't make'em. Something always goes wrong. And it's all year long. We have a decent lead and we always let the other team come back, so. I'm glad we got the win."

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The confidence the young Bears had was contagious.

Perry-Waikiki, a 14-year-old freshman right-hander, pitched a fearless 1 1/3 innings for the statistical save after Anderson's game-saving catch.

"I told coach Craig (Okita), ‘I wanted Kamehameha,'' the 5-foot-9 Perry-Waikiki said. "He gave me the opporunity. A big game like this, I just had to keep my composure and just not let my team down."

Added Okita: "He wanted to pitch. He kept telling me the whole game, ‘I love this environment.' It's the first time he's been in here. He's a good kid with a good heart."

It started as a pitching duel with Kamehameha's junior right-hander Greyson Osbun, who retired 12 of the first 14 batters through four innings. But in the Bears' fifth, Isaac Imamura led off with a walk, took second on Laakea Ko's sacrifice. Jevon Raboy followed with a hard-ground single to center, as Imamura had to hold third. The Bears used a suicide squeeze with Marley Sebastian that scored Imamura and sent pinch runner Brayden Nakamoto to second, while Laboy made it to first. With runners at first and second, Isaiah Chaves' ground out to the pitcher advanced the runners to set up Christian Dommino's two-run single to make it 3-0 befoe Caleb Miyake-Matsubayashi popped out to end the inning.

But the Warriors threatened in the sixth against Anderson, who walked Kamanalu Grace and Jace Souza to start the inning, the hit Dillon Andres to load the bases with no out. Anderson went to right field as Watanabe came in to pitch. He was greeted with a sacrifice fly to center by Matthew Zarriello. But center fielder Dommino's throw was rainbow to the infield, allowing the other runners to advance. But Souza was caught rounding third by catcher Chaves for a crirtical second out. 

"That's baseball," Kamehameha coach Daryl Kitagawa said. "Sometimes we make mistakes; we live and learn with them. But I wouldn't change anything that happened this year…whether we make mistakes or not, it is what it is…I so proud ot these kids."

A wild pitch moved the tying run to third before Bruce Boucher walked. Osbun helped his cause with and RBI single to put runners at first and second. That's when Perry-Waikiki was summoned from the pen and Anderson made his amazing catch to strand the potential tyring and go-ahead runs. 

"That's what you gotta do to win games," Kitagawa said. "They made the plays. Hats off to them."

Kamehameha brought in the flame-throwing Elai Iwanaga, who struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth on 12 pitches to keep it a one-run game.

But Perry-Waikiki slammed the door on the Warriors with the help of nice play by shortstop Ko to start the inning.

Everything started with Anderson, basically making an emergency start with the injury to Kadon Antolin during the MIL playoffs. He had not pitched before this game.

"With Antolin getting hurt in that (MIL) championship game - he's a very reliable senior for us - for him not being able to pitch was a big blow," Okita said. "At practice the next day, I told all our guys basically, we have an audition with everybody….Everything happens for a reason. Antolin got hurt and it allows somebody else to have that opporunity. We threw live and Andy threw the best…We went with the left-hander to keep their runners in check. We were fortunate it worked out tonight."

This will be the Bears' third consecutive appearance in the title game; they lost the last two years to Kamehameha and Waiakea, respectively. This is Maui's first appearnce since winning the title against Waiakea in 2017.