Saint Louis' Rayson Romero was 1-of-2 at the plate, scored once and had 2 RBIs against Kamehameha. Evan Asato | SL

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Pono Anderson makes a pitch against Kamehameha. Anderson allowed 7 hits and 4 runs all while striking out 4 in a win over Saint Louis. Evan Asato | SL

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Kamehameha's James DeJesus was 2-of-3 at the plate driving in one run with a stolen base. Evan Asato | SL

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Kamehameha's Matt Yokota attempts to slide into home against Saint Louis. Yokota was tagged out by catcher Jordan Yamamoto and did not score. Evan Asato | SL

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MANOA – After getting shut out by No. 1 Mid-Pacific earlier this week, Saint Louis has gotten its offensive groove back. 

The Crusaders keyed on a five-run third inning to hold off a Kamehameha rally, 5-4, at the University of Hawaii’s Les Murakami Stadium Saturday evening. This was the final game of an Interscholastic League of Honolulu quadruple header at the Les. 

Saint Louis, ranked No. 2 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Baseball Power Rankings, improves to 6-2 in league play, while the fourth-ranked Warriors dropped to 3-2-2. With the top-ranked Owls (6-2-1) losing to No. 5 Iolani earlier in the day, Saint Louis momentarily shares a spot at the top of the league standings, based on win percentage.  

“Wins are so hard, wins are so tough. We don’t take anybody lightly. For us, this is a great win,” said Saint Louis coach George Gusman. 

Saint Louis’ offense against Kamehameha was a far cry from their output against the Owls this past Wednesday. Despite nine hits in that matchup, the Crusaders fell to Mid-Pacific, 1-0. Instead of leaving runners on base, Saint Louis was able to plate five runs in the bottom of the third. 

“We need to learn (how) to continue to score,” said Gusman. “We did some things different tonight to help ourselves. We just need to keep working on those things.” 

Crusader right fielder Jacob White started the bottom of the third on the right track, reaching first base on an infield single. Following him was Brendan Uchima, who got on base after Kamehameha first basemen Makana Arakaki. Driving them home was leadoff hitter Rayson Romero who knocked one in between left and center field for a two-run ribby.

“It was just a relief, to finally score some runs,” exclaimed Gusman. “We were just pleased that we were able to get runs, however it may come.”

Jordan Mopas later joined Romero on the bases with a single of his own. Following Mopas was Jacob Gribbin, who brought Romero home on a sacrificial fly. Kamehameha then switched their pitchers, bringing in Ulu Farm to relief Eric Sniffen. Farm would finish the inning, but not before Saint Louis scored their final two runs.

Another thing that aided Saint Louis’ victory was their aggressiveness on the bases. The Crusaders totaled six stolen bases in the contest, led by two from Mopas. 

“They gave us that so we took it,” Gusman said on the stolen bases. It was a different mindset for us tonight, (to) just be a little more aggressive.”

The Warriors drew first blood in the top of the third with Kekai Rios’ double just inside the left foul line, bringing home James DeJesus for the first run of the game. They later chipped into the Crusaders’ lead with a Will Young triple in the fourth, which brought home Arakaki. Kamehameha plated two more runs in the fifth, but they could not overcome Saint Louis’ five-run third inning, falling by the final score of 5-4.

The two teams will rematch each other next Thursday, Apr. 3, at Hans L’Orange Field in Waipahu.