Maui tops Waiakea, 6-1, for state crown


The Maui Sabers hoist the Koa Trophy after winning their first state championship since 1982. Greg Yamamoto | SL

MANOA — After 35 years, Maui no ka oi.

Mikito Barkman pitched six strong innings and No. 7 Maui beat No. 9 Waiakea, 6-1, Saturday night to give the Sabers their first Wally Yonamine Foundation Division I state baseball crown since 1982.

"It feels amazing," Maui senior Micah Jio. "We accomplished this goal all along these four years. "This state (title) is not only for us, it's for all the alumni, all of our coaches and for the whole school and Maui."

This is the first time a Neighbor Island league has won consecutive titles (Baldwin won last year) since Molokai won in 1999 and 2000.

A five-run sixth sealed the game for the Sabers (14-5), the Maui Interscholastic League runners-up, in front of 1,924 at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Warriors (17-3), the Big Island Interscholastic League runners-up, scored a run in the top of the seventh, but left the bases loaded when Jacob Igawa hit a grounder to second baseman Kao Mindoro, who touched second base to end the game.

Maui finished the regular season in third place, but knocked off second-play Kamehameha-Maui in the MIL tournament to reach the title game against Baldwin, which was seeded third in the tournament, but fell along with all other seeded teams in the quarterfinals.

"It was crazy," Maui coach Chase Corniel said. "At one point, we just went back to the drawing board, went back to the fundamentals, went back to what we needed to do as a team. We tried to instill the confidence and build them up to the championship team they are."

Barkman, tournament's most outstanding player, was simply amazing. He had allowed an unearned run in four innings of relief against Campbell in Friday's semifinals, using the maximum 35 pitches to keep him eligible for Saturday's game. With 75 pitches left, he departed at 77 pitches (he is allowed to finish a batter if the limit happens in mid-count) when Gehrig Octavio reached on first baseman Kaipo Paschoal's fielding error.

Shortstop Jyrah Lalim, the only other eligible pitcher with pitching experience available, alllowed two hits in a scoreless inning. A throwring error by Mindoro allowed Octavio to score and extend the drama for the Maui faithful. An infield single by Casey Yamauchi loaded the bases, but Lalim got Trayden Tamiya and Nathan Minami to ground to third for force plays at the plate before Igawa grounded to Mindoro to end the game.

"I was just thinking my defense gotta pick themselves up, don't get down and stick to it," Lalim said. "All we needed was three more outs and I knew they would back me up. I threw strikes and let the defense work."

But it was Barkman who carried the Sabers with this arm. He allowed an unearned run, four hits and two walks with three strikeouts in picking up the win.

"He did a hell of a job, threw a lot of strikes," Corniel said. "He hit the ball as well (he was 3 for 3)."

Lasting six innings with 75 pitches left was more than anyone could ask.

"We were going to ride him no matter what," Corniel said. "He was one of our workhorses throughout the season. For him, as a junior, he has a high ceiling. He stepped up big for us."

Barkman allowed a runner in each inning, but only once did he reach third base (when Yamauchi stole second and went to third on a throwing error).

"My fastball was really in command," Barkman said. "My curveball was getting over for strikes."

As the game went along, his coaches started telling him how many pitches he had leff.

The Warriors started the game with senior right-hander Jamison Hirayama, who was charged with a first-inning unearned run in 1 2/3 innings. Sophomore Cody Hirata restored order the next 3 1/3 innings until he hit Mindoro with a ptich to start the sixth.

"We had a lot of arms, but lot of guys didn't get a lot of innings during the season," Waiakea coach Rory Inouye said. "It was good to give the young guys some experience.

"Cody threw a good game. He held them down. Unfortunately, they scored more."

Maui took a 1-0 lead in the first off Hirayama. Jio led off with a single and Bryant Nakayama bunted him over, but Hirayama's throw to first was wild, allowing Jio to take third and Nakayama took second. Mindoro doubled to left-center, scoring Jio as Nakayama took third. Waylon Golis-Bacos flied out to shallow center, but Barkman reached on a bunt single with the runners holding with one out. But Orrion Suda lined out to shortstop Lalim, who shoveled the ball to Mindor for inning-ending double play.

The Sabers did not score until the sixth on an RBI single from Paschoal to chase Hirata. Devin Midel entered for HIrata and allowed an RBI ground out by Treston Carter, a two-run double by Lalim and run-scoring triple by Jio before departing for Rysen Ross, who got Nakagawa on a fly to right to end the inning.

"Our senior class was very strong," Corniel said. "Not only them, it was a team effort. They had roles to play, too. It was just a total team effort and I'm proud of every single one of them."



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].