Mid-Pacific's Jerry Lum connects for a home run against Punahou. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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031514_MPI_Lum_blastsHomer_0536.jpg - Greg Yamamoto | SL

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MANOA – A flurry of base hits powered host Mid-Pacific’s 12-4 win over Punahou at Damon Field Saturday morning. 

The Owls trailed 4-3 heading into the bottom of the fifth before Owls’ designated hitter Jarrett “Jerry” Lum’s two-run homer gave them the lead for good. Mid-Pacific remains undefeated (3-0-1) in Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I play while Punahou drops to 1-2-1.

“It’s a big win,” said Lum after the game. “After that tie against Kamehameha, it’s really good to have a win after that, a win where it wasn’t a tight game at the end. It was one for the memories. It was a really good experience.”

Mid-Pacific was extremely active at the plate, exploding for a season-high of 15 hits. Collectively as a team the Owls’ batting average was 0.500.

“It’s good to see the team’s bats on fire, it’s a good feeling,” said Mid-Pacific third basemen Nicholas Bottom who batted 3 for 4 and drove in three runs.

The Owls’ eight-run victory overshadowed a solid performance from Buffanblu leadoff hitter Beau Branton, who batted 2 for 2 with two runs scored, 2 RBI’s and a homerun. Branton’s homer came on the third pitch of the game, giving Punahou a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Mid-Pacific bats was on point early on, picking up three hits on Punahou starting pitcher Bo Coolen in the bottom of the first. However, Coolen would come up clutch to end the first, striking out Ryan Kiyotoki with the count 3-2 and the bases loaded.

“We’ve been down before and it was early in the game so I trusted in our team to come back,” Bottom said on the early deficit.

The score would remain in Punahou’s favor until the bottom of the third. After Coolen struck out Cal Muramaru, Bottom got on base thanks to a base on balls. Two batters later Cameron Igarashi brought Bottom home on a two-run homer, giving the Owls a one-run lead. Mid-Pacific added another run in the inning after Jacob Maekawa was walked while the bases were loaded. The Owls led 3-1 after heading into the fourth.

Punahou would be held without a run until the top of the fifth. After two batters were tagged at first, Buffanblu freshman Cole Cabrera knocked one in inside the left foul line for a double. Branton continued his strong hitting on the next at bat, bringing home Cabrera for a score. Punahou got hits and runs on their next two batters and all of a sudden it was a different ball game. Mid-Pacific was able to get out of the inning with reliever Seth Kinel coming in for the final out.

“We were kind of panicking. They hit on our best guy so we had to go to plan B to end that inning,” said Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru.

That feeling of panic was quickly erased after the Owls plated four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Tyler Yamaguchi, the tying run, was able to get on base with a double. Lum then helped the lead for good with a two-run homer that soared way over right field.

“It felt a little relieving because I was just trying to get a good swing because a runner was on second base. Just get him in, move him over or something. (I’m) lucky the pitch just hung (like it did),” Lum said on his two-run homer.

Mid-Pacific added two more runs to make the score 7-4 heading into the sixth.

Punahou was unable to respond and Mid-Pacific rattled off some more runs again, manufacturing five in the bottom of the sixth.

“No lead is safe,” said Muramaru. “I’m glad we got those five in the sixth inning. When it’s like this, you can never let up.”

Mid-Pacific will host Kamehameha next Tuesday while Punahou will tangle with Saint Louis. Both games are slated for 3:45 p.m.

“We played a good game, we executed,” said Bottom. “We don’t really get caught up in the moment, we just focus on what we needed to do (and) I think our team is good at that.”