ScoringLive Staff
March 14, 2014, 7:24pm
Game of the Week
Buffanblu and Owls to face off Saturday morning
Punahou's Beau Branton heads to second base in a regular season game last year against Mid-Pacific. Evan Asato | SLIf anything can be taken from the first week of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I baseball season, it is that there are a number of contenders for the league title.
Just one team (Saint Louis, 2-0) remains unbeaten and just one team (Pac-Five, 0-4) is winless in the six-team ILH. The parity in the league is evident by the logjam from second to fifth place. Mid-Pacific leads the pack behind Saint Louis at 2-0-1, while Iolani is in third at 2-2. Kamehameha, at 1-1-2, is in fourth place and Punahou, at 1-1-1, is in fifth.
After an off day Friday, all six teams are back in action Saturday, including a 10 a.m. tilt between visiting Punahou and host Mid-Pacific.
The Buffanblu picked up their first win of the season Wednesday — a 5-4 decision over Pac-Five — after holding off a seventh-inning rally attempt by the Wolf Pack. KJ Harrison belted a solo homer in the first inning and with his trailing 2-1 in the sixth, Noah Goss reclaimed the lead for Punahou with a three-run homer.
Punahou opened the season with a 5-all tie against Kamehameha and two days later fell to Iolani, 7-4.
The Owls are coming off a 4-4 tie against Kamehameha on Tuesday in a game that went 10 innings. They scored first, taking a 1-0 lead after the top of the second, but allowed four runs by the Warriors in the bottom of the inning. MPI answered by plating three runs in a two-out rally, tying it on a Bryce Nagata doubled that brought Hunter Hill around to score. The Owls had opportunities in both the fifth and 10th innings to go ahead, but both times had a runner throw out at the plate.
Mid-Pacific opened its season with a 6-3 win over Pac-Five and shutout Iolani, 4-0, one day later.
It will be the first of three meetings between the Buffanblu and Owls this season. The teams play again on March 21 and April 2.