Sasaki's homer rallies Iolani to Kitamura win


Shane Sasaki darts home for the Raiders' second run of the game after tagging up on Cade Yonamine's fly out to right field in the third inning. CJ Caraang | SL

MANOA — Shane Sasaki's three-run home run capped a five-run fourth inning and Iolani rallied to beat Mid-Pacific Institute, 10-5, Sunday in the title game of the 38th Richard Kitamura Baseball Tournament.

It was the final tuneup for both teams which open the Interscholastic League of Honolulu season Wednesday.

But it might have been a costly tournament title for the Raiders at the Kitamura Diamond at Damon Field. Startng catcher Keene Tanaka suffered an injury to his non-throwing forearm when he landed awkwardly after reaching up for a throw to the plate in MPI's three-run first inning. The senior was taken to the hospital, said Iolani coach Kurt Miyahira, who added he does not know the extent of the injury. Third baseman Micah Yonamine replaced Tanaka behind the plate.

"He's a good kid," Miyahira said of Tanaka. "I can't stand it when bad things happen to great kids. He's our leader. It's like our quarterback went down."

If this game showed anything, it was each team's depth. The Raiders did not lose much defensively with Micah Yonamine catching. He threw out a base stealer and was 1 for 3 with an RBI single.

Jacob Hinderleider, who went in for Micah Yonamine at third, batted 2 for 3 with a walk, two RBI and a stolen base.

For the Owls, last year's starting catcher Kyle Layugan started at DH and caught from the sixth inning. He was 1 for 4 with an RBI double. Starting catcher Mackenzee Higuchi batted 3 for 4 with 2 RBI.

Center fielder Breyndon Nakamura came in to pitch a perfect fifth inning. Owls' coach Dunn Muramaru said Layugan will be doing some pitching this season. Higuchi played left field when Layugan came in to catch.

The Raiders trailed 4-2 entering the fourth and tied the game on a RBI triple by Aaron Ujimori and later a RBI single by Micah Yonamine. The right-handed hitting Sasaki followed by driving a 1-2 curveball over the left field fence to put the Raiders ahead, 7-4.

"He threw me a curveball and I just sat on it," Sasaki said. "I just trusted my bat."

The Raiders drew 10 walks against MPI pitching. Six of those walks came across to score.

"We walked 10 guys today," Muramaru said. "Ten guys we walked and 10 guys they scored."

Iolani's second pitcher of the game Jordan Iwasaki was the beneficiary of the five-run fourth by picking up the win. In two innings, he allowed two runs (one earned), two hits and a walk.

Jaydon Tomas, MPI's second pitcher of the game, was tagged with the loss. He allowed five runs, three hits and two walks.

Two of Iolani's pitchers allowed 11 hits to the Owls, who had their chances early, but stranded 11 runners, including twice leaving the bases loaded.

The Owls jumped on Iolani starting pitcher Jonah Miyazawa for four runs in three innings. Layugan's run-scoring double and Higuchi's two-run single came in the bottom of the first. Hunter Hirayama had an RBI single in the third.

Owls' starting pitcher Shane Adams used 73 pitches in three innings of one-hit ball, but he walked five, allowed two runs (one earned) and struck out three.

Iolani scored two in the third on a passed ball and sacrifice fly from Cade Yonamine.

The Raiders then blew the game open with the five-run fourth, while the Owls got one back in the fifth on Hirayama's RBI single to make it 7-5.

But the Raiders insured their lead with a three-run seventh with an RBI single from Cade Yonamine and two-run single by Hinderleider.

Iolani closed the game with a perfect sixth inning from Cade Yonamine and a scoreless seventh from Trevor Ichimura. Ichimura walked the lead-off hitter in the seventh but stuffed a sharp grounder back to him to start a double play. He struck out pinch hitter Michael Yamamoto to end the game.

On Wednesday, Iolani will host Saint Louis and Mid-Pacific will play Kamehameha at Gomes Field. Both are set for 3:30 p.m.

Other teams that participated in the preseason tournament were Aiea, Campbell, Kailua, Kaiser, Kalani, Mililani, Moanalua, PAC-5, Punahou, Roosevelt, Waiakea, Waianae, Waimea and Waipahu.



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].