Steve Erler | SL

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Saint Francis starter Ian Phillips struck out 11 batters in a complete game effort to help the Saints capture the ILH Division II title. Steve Erler | SL

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WAIPAHU — Bridesmaids no longer.

Led by a strong pitching performance by ace Ian Phillips, Saint Francis claimed its first Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II baseball title by pulling away from Pac-Five, 6-3, before a crowd of about 300 fans at Hans L'Orange Park Thursday afternoon.

The Saints improved to 15-4 on the year and claimed the ILH's lone berth into next week's eight-team Wally Yonamine Foundation/Hawaii High School Athletic Association State Championships at Dr. Francis Wong Stadium in Hilo. It will be their first appearance in a state tournament.

"It feels great," said Phillips, a 6-foot senior right-hander. "I've been at Saint Francis from seventh grade and we were just a small school so we weren't really the best baseball team, but I'm glad that we got there this year — my last year."

Saint Francis, the first-round champion, rebounded from losing its last two games — its only back-to-back losses this season — including a 2-0 blanking at the hands of Pac-Five just seven days prior. Phillips was the losing pitcher in that game despite going the distance.

Thursday was his chance at redemption.

"After last week's performance I adjusted," said Phillips, who struck out 11 in the win. "Last time they knew what I was going to throw and they took advantage of that and I didn't catch on until the middle of the game. From that, that's what I took into this game and took advantage of it."

Phillips threw 77 of his 112 total pitches for strikes. He effectively used his fastball to get ahead of hitters and finished them off with his curveball.

"I think we faced him three times in the regular season and he did a number on us, but when we beat him the last time, that was the first time in four outing that he's pitched against us," Pac-Five coach Dennis Fukunaga said. "He's good; He does his job and he got the best of us."

Phillips seemingly got stronger as the game went on. He allowed a second-inning run on an RBI-single off the bat of Casey Nakamura and two more runs in the third on a two-run single by Matt Matsuda — which gave the Wolf Pack a 3-2 lead. However, he faced just one more batter than the minimum required the rest of the way, including striking out the side in the top of the fourth.

"He's been our horse, our stud," Saint Francis coach Kip Akana said. "The whole year he's been our ace and he showed up today. He had some very critical strikeouts when they were threatening."

The Saints took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of runs. Phillips got on with a one-out double and scored the go-ahead run on Kaimanuwai Akana's RBI-single. Akana came around to score on a Pac-Five throwing error.

They added an insurance run in the sixth. John Paul Tilley reached base on an error and scored on Jared Yara's two-out single.

"I'm not sure how many hits we had, but our bats showed up today," Akana said. "That's nice to see because when our bats went away for a little bit, our pitching kept us in games,"

Pac-Five used three pitchers in the game. Brandon Miyasato started and allowed two runs in 2 2/3 innings pitched before giving way to Trevor Kubo. Kubo, who surrendered two runs in his 1 2/3 innings of work, was charged with the loss. Makoa Paresa threw the final 1 2/3 innings for the Wolf Pack.

Saint Francis took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first before Pac-Five scratched a run across in the second. After the Wolf Pack plated a pair of runs in the top of the third, the Saints tied it at 3-all when Yara scored on a bases-loaded walk by Zach Alcos.

Akana said this championship has been years in the making for the Saints.

"When we started the program we had eight boys and one girl," he said. "That was the roster and because they believed in what we were doing here, this is the fruits of their labor so I want to thank the alumni for creating this situation for us. It definitely feels gratifying. We worked hard, the kids worked hard, we ran into some bumps toward the end, but the kids chose to be resilient and we got the win today."

The Wolf Pack, who won the ILH second round (double-elimination tournament) saw their season end at 10-9. They had won five of their last six games, including three straight, and needed to win Thursday to force another game Saturday to have a chance of qualifying for the state tournament.

It was Saint Francis' fifth win in seven meetings against Pac-Five this season.