Iolani rolls past Mid-Pacific in ILH Division I opener

Ailana Agbayani (1) makes contact and crushes a solo home run in the third inning. Brandon Ching | SL

There was no rust showing for the winning team today.

Iolani got out front early and did not look back as they romped Mid-Pacific, 13-4, on Wednesday.

Harley Acosta and Ailana Agbayani led the way for Iolani at three runs apiece; Agbayani also had seven total bases and a stolen base to her credit. As for Mid Pacific, four players tied at one run apiece.

Capello drew first blood for the Raiders with a solo home run in the first inning while Mid Pacific took a long time to get things going. The Owls would not score a run until the fifth inning.

Iolani added two more runs in the second inning, and an additional run in the third. That included another solo home run from Allie Capelo.

After the third inning, Iolani still led 4-0. After a scoreless fourth inning from both teams, Mid-Pacific came to life with four runs of their own.

Avery Mahoe, Hailey Brunn, Alyssa Umemoto, and Jadelyn Retuta each logged a run for the Owls. All of a sudden, it was tied 4-4.

However, Iolani was not fazed.

"These girls have been working hard and they've been through it all," Iolani coach Benny Agbayani said.

The Raiders added four runs of their own to break the tie and ultimately run away. All of a sudden, the Raiders liked what they saw, as it was now 8-4 in their favor.

"That last couple innings, we finally put everything together," coach Benny added.

And put it together they did.

The Owls went scoreless again in the sixth inning while the Raiders added five more runs to ultimately lock things up and throw away the key. At 13-4, Mid-Pacific needed some help to pull off an upset.

Unfortunately, the Owls went scoreless again in the seventh inning, and that was all she wrote.

"I went with my young pitchers today and they got in trouble and I came with the veterans after that," coach Benny added.

Iolani starts out the ILH at 1-0-0 while Mid-Pacific starts out at 0-1-0. Iolani will next host Maryknoll at Ala Wai on Saturday, Mar. 19 at 10 a.m. HST. Mid-Pacific will take on the Damien Monarchs at Ala Wai NP on Saturday, Mar. 19 at 1 p.m. HST.