Thanks to Pono Anderson, the much anticipated matchup of the premier pitchers in the Wally Yonamine Foundation Division I state baseball tournament will happen 5 p.m Wednesday at Les Murakami Stadium.

Third-seeded Waiakea will play Saint Louis in a quarterfinal that will pit Warriors' left-hander Kodi Medeiros against the Crusaders' right-hander Jordan Yamamoto. Both are expected to be taken in the June Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Both have showcased fastballs that sit in the low 90-mph range.

"It's a big game for all of us," Yamamoto said after Tuesday's, 13-0 rout of Roosevelt in the tournament's opening round. "It's one more game we have to get through to get to our four-year goal."

The two pitchers have never faced each other, not even in off-season leagues. The Crusaders have never seen the Waiakea power pitcher. Only on Youtube, Saint Louis coach George Gusman said.

"I'm not sure what we're going to do," Gusman said about facing Medeiros. "We don't have much time to get ready for him. Finals tomorrow, so when the kids get out, we'll have some time and we'll do the best we can to get ready."

The rule of thumb in the state tournament is to use the No. 1 starting pitcher in the first game of the state tournament, then worry about getting through the rest of the tournament. The Crusaders went with No. 2 Pono Anderson. All Anderson did was throw five shutout innings of four-hit ball against the Rough Riders. He faced only 19 batters or four over the minimum.

Anderson, a junior, had some shaky outings during the regular season. But that was in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, where most lineups are dangerous top down.

"We didn't think it was taking a chance," Gusman said of going with Anderson. "That's how Pono can pitch. You get in the middle of the ILH season, everybody figures out everyone, so he had some rough spots, but that's how good Pono can be, so we felt comfortable going with Pono."

Yamamoto concurred. Scouts asked him who was pitching and told them Anderson. They asked him how was Anderson.

"I told them, 'He throws strikes,'" Yamamoto said. "And that's all we needed from him tonight and he proved it tonight. He won us the game pretty much."

Yamamoto said he does not feel extra pressure facing Medeiros.

"To me, I take it as another game to play," he said. "I can't get nervous. We just have to play like how we played tonight and hope for the best."