PEARL CITY - Kila Kapihe pitched seven strong innings in his season debut on the mound and No. 1 Campbell edged No. 10 Pearl City, 2-1, in eight innings Saturday at the Chargers' field.

Kapihe (1-0) allowed a run, scattered four hits and two walks, but found himself down, 1-0, after four innings. But the Sabers (5-0) tied the game in fifth and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth on Tryzen Patricio's sacrifice fly to left. Dorrien Villanueva-Hermosura moved from first base to the mound and pitches a scoreless eighth for the save.

Pearl City starting pitcher Trenton Darley was matching Kapihe inning for inning, allowing an unearned run, five hits and a walk while striking out five in seven innings. Losing pitcher Chevy Sumile deserved a better fate, as several misplays eventually led to Campbell's go-ahed run in the eighth. The Chargers fell to 2-2.

"We knew Trenton was going to come out here and compete and get us to the end of the game to give us a chance to win," Pearl City coach Gavin Concepcion said. "That's the kind of guy he is. He expects the ball when we need him. No matter what kind of day he has, he's going to complete throughout the game. Just so happens he matched up with Kapihe and Kapihe pitched well and completed and kept them in the game."

With the game knotted at 1 after seven innings, designated hitter Ian Kahaloa was hit by a pitch from Sumile to lead off the top of the eighth. Pinch runner Kainoa Ganancial broke for second on a steal attempt, was caught in a rundown between first and second. On his way back to first, the shortstop's throw to first was wild, allowing Ganancial to take second.

"If we get that out, it changes the complexion of the game," Concepcion said.

Blayze Arcano-Llacuna reached on a bunt single toward third, but Ganancial held second. Keola Himan's sacrifice moved the runners over, but he was safe at first when the Sumile's throw to first pulled the first baseman off the bag to load the bases with no out.

The Chargers appealed the call, but the home plate umpire concurred with the base umpire's call. If the batter was out, Concepcion said he could have had Patricio intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. Darley struck out the next batter and got the third out on a grounder.

"It does change the complexion of the game because it's a different hitter," Concepcion said. "You pitch differently and a ground ball gets us out of the inning. That call could've gone either way; it just didn't go our way."

Instead, Patricio ripped a 1-1 pitch to left for the sacrifice fly that plated Ganancial with the go-ahead run. The other runners held their bases and were stranded when Sumile retired the next the batters to end the inning.

"I was looking for something to drive," said Patricio, who drove an inside fastball to left to score the run.

The Chargers threatened in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Sam Prentice was allowed a walk despite the count being 3-2; the Sabers contested the call to no avail. But Nicholas Lau lined out to Roy Clemons, who replaced Villanueva at first to start the inning, who then doubled off Prentice to end the game.

Kapihe retired the first nine batters in order before walking Au to start the fourth inning. After taking second on Tyler Kushima's sacrifice, Au scored on Matt Tsutomi's ground single to center on an 0-2 pitch.

"I left it up," Kapihe said the high fastball at Tsutomi hit for the single. "I put a little juice on it. I wasn't expecting it (for him) to put the bat on the ball. I was changing speeds the whole game. I wanted to hump it a little bit to see if he'd chase it."

Trestan Nakamura's flare single to shallow left moved Tsutomi to second with one out. But Kapihe struck out the next two batters to keep damage to a minimum.

The Chargers threatened in the bottom of the seventh against Kapihe. Dane Kaneshiro reached on a parachute single to right, but was caught stealing second on a strong throw from catcher Patricio. But Christian Onomura walked and went to third on Shaye Higa's single to right, but Higa was nailed returning to first on a backdoor play to end the threat.

The Sabers tied the game in the fifth. Patricio singled with one out and lifted for courtesy runner Shane Shimizu, who stole second before TJ Takahama struck out. Kapihe was hit by a pitch and lifted for courtesy runner Kekahi Reiny Aloy. Jobe Ibana hit a pop in front of the plate that fell between the pitcher and catcher for a single that loaded the bases with two out. Jake Mendoza then reached on a fielding error by shortstop Tsutomi that allowed Shimizu to score and reload the bases before Villanueva grounded out to second to end the frame.

Although it was Campbell's fifth game of the season, it was Kapihe's first start on the mound. Although he has started at third base in the other four games, he said he had been having issues with his triceps.

"I had a sharp pain in my triceps," he said. "It wasn't allowing me to throw, but the trainers worked on me everyday. I did my training and it got better over the days."

Kapihe was sharp, mixing his fastball with off-speed. He ran only two thee-ball counts and both batters, Au and Onomura, eventually walked. Patricio said Kapihe's change and slider were working well.

"He was hitting spots," Patricio said. "He was getting the outs, letting his defense work."