Iolani's Christian Donahue hauls in a pop-fly against Saint Louis. Joshua Lopez | Special to SL

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Saint Louis' Jordan Mopas swings on a pitch against Iolani. Joshua Lopez | Special to SL

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Iolani's Bronson Ichimura throws a pitch to the plate against Saint Louis. Joshua Lopez | Special to SL

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WAIPIO - On a blustery day, 'Iolani's Bronson Ichimura took advantage of a strong wind blowing in to handcuff Saint Louis, 7-0, Saturday in Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball at Central O'ahu Regional Park.

The Raiders improved to 3-2 in handing the Crusaders (2-1) their first loss of the season in a tight ILH Division I race that has four of six teams with over .500 records.

The Raiders' left-hander limited the Crusaders to three hits, walking one and striking out four in the complete-game win. He kept his pitches down and got 10 ground outs, but several hard-hit balls were either snagged by fielders or were held up by gust that was blowing toward the infield.

"For the most part, i just trusted my defense," Ichimura said. "We have one of the better defenses in the state. (The Crusaders) played a great game; they hit the ball. I just tried to make the pitches.

"Since the wind was blowing in, some of their power hitters - Devan Stubblefield is a great hitter - but today, since the wind was blowing in from right (field), we just went after him. Even if he hit the ball hard, it wouldn't go too far."

Added Saint Louis coach George Gusman: "We hit the ball hard at them. This wind burned us today. If we played on another field, I don't know if the results would be the same."

The wind also played havoc on the Crusaders defensively. Some routine fly balls were blowing away from outfielders. Still, Gusman said they need to make the plays.

"We have too do a better job," he said. "There's no two ways about it."

Ichimura is 'Iolani's ace who usually keeps his pitches low in the zone, 'Iolani coach Brent Shimokawa said.

"His changeup was really working well today," Shimokawa said. "He could throw it on any count for a strike. He's not afraid to use it and I think that was the key today."

Christian Donahue and Joshua Inaba had clutch two out, two-run doubles in the third and seventh innings, respectively, to highlight three-run innings for the Raiders.

"He's a senior," Shimokawa said of Donahue. "We need to rely on him. He's a person we put in a position to produce for us."

Pono Anderson, who took the loss, was a victim of four errors and wind-aided hits that blew fly balls away from Saint Louis outfielders. He allowed seven runs (five earned), 10 hits and a walk with five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.

The Raiders staked Ichimura to a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Matt Campos led off with a single to left, stole second and took third on Joshua Inouye's single to right. After Anderson struck out Kainoa Fong, Max Look wind-blown single to right scored Campos and sent Inouye to second. Ichimura tried to bunt his way on, but was thrown out at first as the runners advanced and scored on Donohue's two-run double to left before Corey Nakakura flied out to center to end the inning.

'Iolani added a run in the sixth. Pikai Winchester led off with a ground single to center. Winchester took second on a sacrifice by Inaba, who reached safely on a throwing error that allowed Winchester to advance to third. Campos reached on a fielder's choice when he grounded to second for a force out at second that scored Winchester to make it 4-0. Anderson retired two of the next three batters to keep the damage to a minimum.

The Raiders cushioned their lead in the seventh and chased Anderson in the process. Donahue walked with one out, but was caught stealing. Nakakura reached safely on a wild pitch on a swinging third strike and took second on Winchester's single to right, his third hit of the game. Inaba's double to left scored both runners. Inaba took third when the cut-off man's throw was wild to home. Anderson was replaced by Peyton Oshiro. Campos reached on a throwing error that allowed courtesy runner Aaron Nakasone to score to make it 7-0. Inouye kept the inning alive with a single that sent Campos to second, but Fong grounded out to the pitcher to end the frame.

Only once the Crusders had more than one runner on base in an inning. In the third, Tanner Atiburcio singled with one out and Rayson Romero walked. Jordan Mopas reached on a fielder's choice grounder to short for a force at second to put runners at the corners. But Devan Subblefield popped out to shortstop to kill the threat.