Hawaiian Electric Game of the Week
Saint Louis rallies by 'Iolani, 3-2, captures ILH regular season title


   



MANOA - Ryder Kuhns' slicing RBI single toward the right-field line with two out in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted No. 3 Saint Louis past No. 7 'Iolani, 3-2, Saturday morning at Les Murakami Stadium.

With the win, the Crusaders (12-3) capture the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I regular-season title and a state tournament berth. They will be making their first state appearance since 2011, but must win the upcoming ILH Division I double-elimination tournament to win the overall league title and seeded state berth.

"It's a huge relief," Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. "In the tournament, you're rolling the dice. It's pressure. You're playing everyday. Your pitchers have to be ready. This takes a big load off of us. We still want to win the championship, but this is a huge load off of this team."

The Raiders (8-7) will be the fourth seed in the ILH tournament.

With the game tied at 2 entering the bottom of the seventh, catcher Taylor Meilleur singled to right with one out and was lifted for courtesy runner Anthony Lau, who took second on Rayson Romero's sacrifice. Jordan Mopas grounded a single to left to put runners at the corners. Jacob Gribbin was intentionally walked to load the bases and create force plays at every base to get the final out. Kuhns then sliced an 0-2 curveball over the right fielder near the foul line to score Lau with the winning run.

"I was looking for something off-speed," the right-handed hitting Kuhns said. "He had two strikes on me, so I wasn't expecting a fastball or anything close."

Jordan Yamamoto, who used 102 pitches in his complete-game win against Mid-Pacific on Tuesday to put the Crusaders into first place, came in relief on three days rest for starter Pono Anderson. Yamamoto (6-1) pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and walking one, while striking out two.

"He wanted to start the game," Gusman said of Yamamoto, a potential draft pick in June. "There's quite of future for him. Pono gave us as much as he could. After he got hit (by a line drive), it was bothering him a little bit; but he didn't make excuses. We were just fortunate to come back."

Corey Nakakura (0-1) allowed a run, four hits and a walk in two-plus innings for the Raiders.

'Iolani staked its starting pitcher Joshua Inouye to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Pikai Winchester, who was 2 for 3 and scored both of the Raiders' runs, led off with a single to right. An out later, he took second when Nakakura lined a single off Anderson's leg. Caleb Duhay's line single to right-center scored Winchester and moved Nakakura to second. Matt Campos hit a deep drive to the left-center alley that was hauled in on a running catch by left fielder Gribbin to save at least a run before Kainoa Fong grounded out to first to end the inning.

The Raiders made it 2-0 in the fourth against Anderson. Winchester led off with a single, took second on a balk, moved to third when Joshua Inaba grounded out to third and scored when Nakakura grounded out to second before Duhay grounded out to short to end the inning.

Inouye had held the Crusaders in check through four innings, allowing an infield single and a walk before the Crusaders tied the game. Devan Stubblefield led off the fifth with a single, stole second when Tanner Atiburcio struck out and went to third on a wild pitch before Brendan Uchima struck out. Travis Tanaka, pinch hitting for Meilleur, and drew a walk to put runners at the corners, ending Inouye's day.

Left-hander Ezra Heleski came in for 'Iolani to face Romero, who walked to load the bases. With two out, Mopas hit a liner to the left-side hole that shortstop Christian Donahue snagged then dropped, allowing a run score and reloading the bases. Nakakura was summoned from first base to relieve Heleski, who hit Gribbin on a 3-1 count to bring home the tying run and keep the bases loaded. Kuhns grounded out to short to leave the bases loaded.

Yamamoto retired the Raiders in order in the sixth and seventh innings to give his team a chance to rally. The comeback began with the single by Meilleur, who is only 4 for 10 on the season because he is usually batted for by the DH. He struck out his first time up and was pinch-hit for in the fifth.

"It's amazing," Gusman said. "We talked about how we can go places if nobody cares about who gets the credit. He comes to work every single day; he's always happy, positive. Any opportunities he gets, he's so appreciative. For him to start that thing off is so awesome."

"Coach Gus told me I needed to sit back, that he had faith in me," Meilleur said. "That's what our team is, we're all on faith. I knew that my team was behind me and it felt good."



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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