Maryknoll's Tamia Hirano had a 2-for-3 day at the plate with 2 RBIs in a win over Mid-Pacific. Brandon Ching | SL

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SAND ISLAND— Fifth-ranked Maryknoll scored four runs in the bottom of the third to pull away from eighth-ranked Mid-Pacific Institute, 5-1, to start the second round of Interscholastic League of Honolulu regular season at Sand Island Park on Wednesday afternoon.

The Lady Spartans improve to 6-1-1 in the ILH standings, while the Owls dropped their third-straight game to fall to 4-4. Maryknoll beat MPI on Mar. 16, 18-2 in five innings, but it was a different game the second time around.

"You chalk it up as learning experience. But a game like this, we kept it close and we felt we were in the game. At this point, we are looking to get better and work towards the playoffs," said MPI coach Alan Inaba.

Tamia Hirano went 2-for-3 and 2 RBI to lead the way for the Lady Spartans and Bree Soma went 3-for-4 and scored a run.

The Owls jumped out on the Lady Spartans first as Marissa Allen's RBI single brought in McKenna Silva for the first score of the game. Allen went 1-for-4 and Jenna Kumabe went 1-for-4 and hit a double.

"It's tough to beat a team twice so we knew it won't be like that last game. When they scored that run, it pushed us to want to score more and come back harder. We knew we couldn't get comfortable so we tried to play our game," said Labasan.

MPI had five of their six hits in the first three innings, however Maryknoll's defense stepped up to allow one hit in the final four innings. Shearyna Labasan, who intends to play for Western Washington, struck out six batters and had five walks for the game.

"Our defense we had 12 put outs in the infield and that's good for our team. We helped Ryna when she was struggling on the mound and told her we got her back. We picked off each other," said Hirano.

"We pride ourselves on defense and they want the ball to come to them," said Uekawa. "Our infield had 12 and the outfield had three put outs. It was a complete game and all effort."

"It was a total team effort and the team had my back defensively. I knew that if they (MPI) hit the ball, they were going to be there to make the plays," said Labasan, on her defense.

Maryknoll responded with four runs in the bottom of the third. Shayna Ige led off with a single and Bree Soma also singled to left. Akimseu walked Mylee Enos. Kanoe Tanigawa got on first after Silva's error as the ball bounced out of her glove and Ige and Soma scored.

Hirano, who struck out at her first at-bat, redeemed herself as she drove in a 2RBI single to right field to bring in Tanigawa and Enos to make it 4-1.

"It got to me, but I had to pick myself up and had to pick up my team. I did it for my team and made contact," said Hirano.

"She did not look good at bat when she struck out. She came right back with a single that brought in two more runs and those insurance runs were really important," said Uekawa.

Chynna Mekaru, who came in for Labasan as a courtesy runner, added another run in the bottom of the fourth off an error to make it, 5-1.

Maryknoll plays Pac-Five (3-5) on Apr. 4 at Sand Island while MPI hopes to rebound as they play Saint Francis (2-5) on Apr. 6.