ILH Baseball
Mid-Pacific ousts Saint Louis from tourney, 4-1


  



Tue, Apr 30, 2013 @ [ 3:30 pm ]


FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Saint Louis 0 000001153
Mid-Pacific 0 0 2110X471

W: Chase Wago    L: Zeke Wallace

MPI: Bryce Asao 2-3 rbi; Chase Wago 7.0 IP 1 ER
STL: Kaimi Umebayashi 1-3 run; Zeke Wallace 5.0 IP 2 ER


Freshman left-hander Chase Wago made all the adjustments he needed to help host Mid-Pacific Institute beat Saint Louis, 4-1, Wednesday in an elimination game of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I double-elimination tournament.

The regular season champion Owls (12-3 overall, 2-1 in the tourney) will host 'Iolani (7-7, 2-0) at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday for the tournament title.

If the Raiders win, they capture the tournament title and will play MPI Friday for the overall ILH title and the seeded berth for the Division I state tournament set for May 8-11 on Maui.

If the Owls win, they will play the Raiders again on Thursday for the tournament title. If the Owls win again, they will be the overall ILH champion and get the league's seeded berth. The Raiders would fall to second in the tourney and would play Saint Louis (7-8, 1-2), second during the regular season, for the ILH's second state berth.

"We sit and wait," Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. "That's all we can do right now."

On April 11, when the Owls had already clinched the league's top seed for the tournament, Saint Louis beat MPI, 7-2. Wago lasted just 3 1/3 innings, allowing five runs (four earned), six hits and a walk with two strikeouts.

But Tuesday, Wago handcuffed the Crusaders on five singles without allowing a walk. The only run he allowed came in the top of the seventh on a wild pitch.

"We just used all his pitches and tried to mix up all his speeds," MPI catcher Marcus Doi said. "Eventually, it worked out for us. We made some adjustments to his delivery and his mindset. It worked out today."

Indeed.

"We just couldn't adjust," Gusman said. "From the dugout to the batter's box, somehow, the translation was lost."

Although he was was with the varsity all season, Wago's first starting assignment was that day the Saints beat him. He admitted it was "nerve-wracking" that day. On Tuesday, he pitched to contact and didn't strikeout a batter in his 76-pitch outing.

"My spots where I was hitting was working good," Wago said. "The defense always backs me up, so I can trust them."

The Owls took a 2-0 lead in the third against Saint Louis starter Zack Wallace. Cal Muramaru reached on a bunt single to start the frame. After Noah Shackles fouled out on a popped bunt, Muramaru was forced out at second on Isiah Kiner-Falefa's grounder to second. Kiner-Falefa took third when Quintin-John Collier reached on a dropped looping liner to right. Marcus Doi and Bryce Asao followed with successive RBI singles before Brent Sakurai grounded out to third to end the inning.

Two of the four walks Wallace issued came back to hurt him in the next two innings.

Ryne Saiki drew a one-out walk in the fourth. After Muramaru fouled out to left on a diving catch by left fielder Devan Stubblefield, Saiki took second on Shackles single to center. Saiki scored on Kiner-Falefa's single to left. The runners advanced to third and second on a throwing error from left field, but Collier grounded out to strand the runners.

In the fifth, Wallace walked Doi to start the inning. His courtesy runner, Bryce Nagata took third on a hit-and-run single to left by the left-handed hitting Asao. An out later, Cameron Igarashi's squeeze scored Nagata to make it 4-0 before Saiki flied out to right to end the inning.

The Crusaders, who had a runner caught stealing in the second and an inning-ending double play in the fifth, finally scored in the seventh.

Umebayashi led off with a single to center and an out later, went to second on a wild pitch. After taking third when Stubblefield grounded out to second, Umebayashi scored on wild pitch before Jacob Gribbin flied out to right to end the game.



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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