Ichimura's one-hitter lifts Iolani by No. 9 MPI, 4-0


Iolani's Trevor Ichimura throws a pitch to plate against Mid-Pacific Friday afternoon in an ILH Division I postseason game. Greg Yamamoto | SL

MANOA — Micah Yonamine's two solo home runs backed the one-hit pitching of Trevor Ichimura and Iolani silenced No. 9 Mid-Pacific Institute, 4-0, Friday at Damon Field.

The Raiders (6-10), the fifth seed of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I second round, advance to the double-elimination round against top-seeded Kamehameha 3 p.m. Saturday at Ala Wai Field.

The five-time defending ILH champion Owls (6-10), the fourth seed in the second round, are done for the season, snapping a seven-year streak of state tournament appearances.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game coming into Mid-Pac," Yonamine said. "We just tried to play defense and hit the ball hard."

It was the second time this season Ichimura blanked the Owls. On March 10, the junior right-hander beat MPI, 1-0, on a two-hitter.

Friday, Ichimura was nearly unhittable. He faced one batter over the minimum in the complete-game win. The only hit he allowed was a chop single between third and short by Bronson Hakkei with one out in the third; he made it to second when left fielder Matthew Inaba misplayed the ball. But Hakkei was out trying for third on a pitch in the dirt to end the inning.

The only other base runner was Jet Uechi, who reached on shorstop Shaydon Kubo's throwing error in the fifth inning.

Ichimura struck out five and walked none. Of the 16 other outs, 12 were from grounders.

"He pitched a good game," MPI coach Dunn Muramaru said. "He mixed'em up, just hit his spots and kept the ball down, got ahead of the hitters all the time. There weren't many three-ball counts."

Only Jacob Yoshino managed a three-ball count, but struck out on a full count in the first inning. Ichimura threw only 69 pitches.

"It was just his command," Iolani coach Kurt Miyahira said. "He pounded the zone, challenged hitters. He waw awesome today. We needed that today. Big time."

Ichimura got some nice stops of grounders to shortstop Kubo, who had five assists.

"I just let my defense work," Ichimura said. "I just tried to make good pitches."

The Raiders staked their starting pitcher to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on Zack Kon's single that scored Cade Yonamine, who led off the frame with a double.

Yonamine's cousin, Micah, led off the fourth with a towering home run to left off MPI starter Carter Rustad (1-5), who went 3 1/3 innings and was charged with two runs and five hits with three strikeouts.

The Raiders scored a pair in the fifth. With one out, relief pitcher JT Navyac hit Shane Sasaki with a pitch. When Inaba grounded out to first, Sasaki took third on defensive interference during a rundown and scored on a wild pitch with Micah Yonamine batting. Yonamine then drilled the next pitch to nearly the same spot for his second homer of the game to make it 4-0 before his cousing struck out to end the inning.

"I was just looking for something to drive," Micah Yonamine said of his first two homers of the season. "First one, I was just trying to find a way to get on. I was trying to hit it hard and the home runs would come. Second one, nobody on, I just tried to hit it hard."

Now that the Raiders have kept their season alive, they will have to endure the double-elimination process.

"They've been working and it's good for them to see some results," Miyahira said. "Hopefully, we'll carry some momentum going into the (double-elimination) tournament."



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].