Baseball
Saint Louis outlasts 'Iolani, 10-6; faces MPI next


WAIPIO - It was bottom's up for Saint Louis.

The bottom third of the order combined to drive in six runs and the Crusaders exploited 'Iolani's bullpen in a 10-6 win Saturday the second round of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I double-elimination tournament at Central O'ahu Regional Park.

Saint Louis (13-3) will play Mid-Pacific (12-3-1) Tuesday at a site to be determined. The Crusaders, as  the top seed in the tourney, will be the home team throughout the tournament and the 'if necessary' playoff.

'Iolani (9-8) will play Kamehameha (9-6-2) in an elimination game Tuesday, also at a site to be named.

Jacob White, the Crusaders' No. 7 hitter, was 2 for 4 with three RBI. No. 8 hitter Brendan Uchima was 1 for 2 with an RBI double and No. 9 hitter Tanner Atiburcio was 1 for 3 with a two-run double. White and Atiburcio's two-run hits came when Saint Louis sent 12 batters to the plate in a six-run fifth to put Saint Louis ahead, 7-2.

"Thank God we clutched up," Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. "Jacob White was huge. Tanner Atiburcio hit the ball well. Same with Brendan Uchima. I was happy for those guys because they've been struggling. We're trying to keep things positive."

Those runs turned out to be crucial because 'Iolani responded with four in the top of the sixth to pull to 7-6. But the Saints cushioned their lead with three in the bottom of the sixth that was aided by an RBI single by White and RBI double by Uchima.

Pikai Winchester drove in half of the Raiders' runs, batting 4 for 4, including a triple.

Jordan Yamamoto (7-1) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing six runs, but four were unearned, nine hits and two walks, while striking out nine. Pono Anderson inherited the bases loaded with two outs in the sixth with Saint Louis ahead, 7-3, qualifying for the save. He allowed a wild pitch and a two-run single that brought in three runs that were charged to Yamamoto.

Ezra Heleski started for the Raiders, pitching 3 1/3 innings, allowing an unearned runs, two hits and a walk. He was followed by five relievers, four of them combining to allow nine runs. Third baseman Kainoa Fong came in the fifth and did not retire any of the four batters he faced, and was charged with the game-deciding run.

Yamamoto entered the sixth inning having thrown 88 pitches. The sixth should have been a 1-2-3 inning, except that after striking out Joshua Inaba to start the inning, the pitch in the dirt rolled toward third. Catcher Taylor Meilleur's throw to first to complete the putout was wide, allowing the batter to reach safely on the error. That did not appear to be an issue when Yamamoto got Matt Campos on a fly to left and struck out Fong. But when the Raiders followed that by stringing three successive singles by Max Look, Austin Jim On and Christian Donahue, that set the stage for the four-run inning. Yamamoto was finally pulled after Gusman realized the right-hander was well over the 100-pitch mark (121).

"I didn't realize that," Gusman said. "We were just trying to get that one out. He was very unlucky. We had the strikeout and we don't throw the ball to first base, then there was a chopper (Look's squib single in front of the plate). It was one of those things. When yelled, 'What was the (pitch) count?' that's when I went to get (Yamamoto)."

Anderson struggled with the first batter he faced, the red-hot Winchester. The nine-pitch at-bat included a wild pitch that scored a run and followed four pitches later with a two-run single by Winchester.

In Saint Louis' six-run fifth, three different 'Iolani relievers combined to walk four Saints and hit another. Of those five base runners, four of them eventually scored. In all, 'Iolani pitchers walked nine batters.



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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