Iolani drops Punahou, 9-2, for first win of season

Iolani's Bronson Ichimura delivers a pitch to the plate against Punahou. Tyler Guieb | SL

After losing their first two games of the year, the Iolani Raiders (1-2) picked up their first win of the year with a 9-2 victory over Punahou at their home field Thursday afternoon.

Punahou dropped to 1-2 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I standings.

Starting pitcher Bronson Ichimura threw a season-high four strikeouts to lead the Raiders defensively.

"For us it's important to get our first win," said Ichimura. "We just needed to get out of that funk. We played well all preseason, but we just came out flat the couple of games."

Leading Iolani's offense was senior designated hitter Pikai Winchester, who had a huge double that brought in three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning.

"We hit pretty well today," Ichimura said. "I wouldn't say this was our best; a few of our hitters still have to get going. Defensively we're excellent. I'm just more worried about us starting to hit again."

The Raiders will have a chance to continue their ways with a rematch of Saint Louis next Saturday. The Crusaders defeated Iolani, 9-4 in the regular season opener for both teams.

"We just have to make the plays," Ichimura said. "Pitchers got to do their job and we'll go out there and play with anybody."

Reach Evan Asato at [email protected].