Kamehameha's Micah McNicoll slides in safely for a triple against Saint Louis. McNicoll was 3-for-4 at the plate with a run scored and an RBI in a win over the Crusaders. CJ Caraang | SL

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WAIPIO – No. 6 Kamehameha responded to adversity quickly to edge No. 1 Saint Louis, 4-3, Thursday in a typical nail-biting, edge-of-the-seat Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I baseball game.

After allowing three runs in the top of the third to the Crusaders (6-2), the Warriors (6-3) cashed in on a lead-off walk, four hits and two errors to score four in the bottom of the frame in a wild affair at the Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park.

Left-handed starting pitcher Makoa Mau walked five and hit four batters, but allowed only two hits in 4 1/3 innings for the Warriors. But right-hander Hunter Breault bailed Mau out of a jam in the fifth with an inning-ending double play and added two more scoreless innings to save the win for the starter.

"Hunter's been working hard the last few weeks," Kamehameha coach Tommy Perkins said. "He's starting to come back, getting his composure. Last two games, he's done a great job."

Kamehameha pitching stranded 12 Saint Louis runners, mitigating the walks and hit batsmen.

"Makoa did a great job," Perkins said. "Aside of the walks, he was getting them to ground out, pop up, so he did what we asked him to do…Makoa was good at kind of keeping them off-balanced for awhile."

Saint Louis starting pitcher Royce Hirayama pitched four innings, but the only the inning he allowed the lead-off batter to reach is when the Warriors scored. Dylan Spain added two scoreless innings for the Saints, but the damage had been done.

Mau, who allowed the lead-off batter to reach in three of his 4 1/3 innings of work, walked Keith Torres to start the inning. After taking second on Taylor Meilleur's sacrifice, Kaiolohia Perreira-Alquiza flied out to right before Brendan Uchima walked. Matt Wong drilled a triple to left-center to score the runners. The relay from shortstop Matt McNicoll to third was wild, allowing Wong to score to make it 3-0. Mau got Charles Lopez to roll out to first to end the inning.

Hirayama walked No. 9 hitter Nick Penzetta to start the bottom of the third and he scored on McNicoll's triple to right on a hit-and-run, his first of three hit on the day. Right fielder Wong then robbed Logan Salcedo of a hit with a diving catch, as McNicoll retreated back to third. Designated hitter Chase Miyasato lined the second of his three hits in the game to right to scored McNicoll, cutting the Warriors' deficit to 3-2.

After Miyasato stole second, he scored when Mason Quinlan reached first on a fielding error by second baseman Perreira-Alquiza to tie the game at 3.  Quinlan took second on a wild pitch and scored on shortstop Torres' throwing error after Kawai Takemura reached on a single to short and took second on the error, as the Warriors took a 4-3 lead. Although Micah Hee singled to sent Takemura to third, Hirayama struck out Mau to keep the game close.

"We walked that No. 9 batter, we make two errors and almost three in that inning and they mixed in a couple hits," Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. "And we got runners on base nearly every inning, scoring position, and we can't cash'em in. That's what happens when you're facing good pitching. Hopefully, we'll be better Saturday."

Saint Louis threatened in the top of the fourth when two walks and a hit batsmen loaded the bases with two out. But right fielder Wilhelm Cordes a running catch with his back to the infield to rob Perreira-Alquiza of a possible extra-base hit.

The Crusaders returned the favor in the bottom of the fourth.

Kamehameha had runners at second and third with two out when shortstop Torres threw out Quinlan after robbing the hitter with a diving stop of grounder toward the middle.

Of course, it would not be a patented ILH game without drama. Breault retired the first two batters to start the top of the seventh before Wong reached on a single to short and Lopez walked. But shortstop McNicoll fielded John Kea's sharp grounder to force out Lopez at second to end the game.

Saint Louis got runners on in the fifth. Uchima led off with a single and an out later, Lopez walked to end Mau's day. But Breault threw a 1-1 inside fastball to get Kea to ground into the rally-killing double play.

"I was trying to get him to hit it up the middle so we can turn the double play," explained Breault. "But what perfectly happened was he hit it to the third baseman, stepped on the bag, turned two."

What Breault liked about the win was that everyone had a hand in it, whether it was with the bat or the glove.

"Like coach said, it was a team win," Breault said. "Very selfless, guys dropping down bunts they didn't have to. Nobody showed any sign of panic. They just did their job and knew if they did that, we'd be fine."