Saint Louis' Rayson Romero slides into second base safely against Waiakea. Evan Asato | SL

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Waiakea pitcher Kodi Medeiros allowed 2 runs on 5 hits and struck out nine batters in a loss to Saint Louis. Amber Popovich | Special to SL

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A number of scouts were in attendance at the Saint Louis-Waiakea quarterfinal. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Saint Louis starter Jordan Yamamoto throws a pitch to Waiakea's Kodi Medeiros. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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In a game that lived up to the hype expected from two pro prospects, Saint Louis' Jordan Yamamoto won the battle with Waiakea's Kodi Medeiros, 2-0, Wednesday night.

Not to be lost in the hype is that the Crusaders (16-6), ranked third in the ScoringLive/OC 16 Power Rankings, advance to the semifinals against second-seeded and No. 1 Campbell, 7 p.m. Thursday. Saint Louis is making its first semifinals appearance since 2010, when it lost to Baldwin, 5-2.

"We just wanted to advance to tomorrow," Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. "Plus, we have to face the No. 1 team in the state in Campbell. I'm not sure what we're going to do as far as pitching; they've got a whole load of pitchers they can throw at us."

The Warriors (13-2) will play Kaiser at 7 p.m. Thursday in a fifth-place semifinal game at Hans L'Orange Park.

Wednesday, the Crusaders had a load in facing the top prospect in the state in the power left-hander Medeiros. The pitchers engaged in a scoreless battle until the Crusaders scored in the top of the fifth.

"It was an amazing atmosphere, having all these fans behind me, my team behind me," Yamamoto said. "It's just a great feeling to have."

Both pitchers understood the hype of the game, but also remembered the ultimate goal: to advance in the state tournament.

"Lot of intensity, lot of hype," Medeiros said. "I was just trying to go at it and get the 'W.'"

Yamamoto has pitched many great games for the Crusaders this season. But none might have been better.

"If you look at the stage we're at, the state championship (tournament), you win you advance, you lose, you get to the consolation bracket, so for us to get that win - for him to pitch that well - it's just big for us," Gusman said.

The two superb athletes showed they were more than pitchers. Each had a single off each other, though Medeiros' was a line drive compared to Yamamoto's infield chopper that he beat out. (Both are outfielders when they don't pitch."

Yamamoto allowed two singles and two walks, while striking out nine. He faced only two batters over the minimum, as one runner got picked off first and another caught off third in a botched safety squeeze. The latter play might have been the turning point. He used 108 pitches, 71 for strikes.

With one out in the fourth, Medeiros grounded a single to right for Waiakea's first safety of the night. Courtesy runner Grant Nonaka scooted to third on a hit-and-run single to center by Caleb Freitas-Fields. On a 0-2 pitch with Nathan Minami at the plate, the Warriors called for a safety squeeze, where the runner on third only breaks when the bunt is made. But the pitch was taken for a ball and Saint Louis catcher Taylor Meilleur caught Nonaka in a rundown for the second out, as Freitas-Fields took second during the play. Yamamoto struck out Minami to end the inning.

"It was a safety squeeze," Waiakea coach Jensen Sato said. "There was a miscommunication; it kind of cost us. But the kids battled. I'm proud of them for what they did this season, knowing they had that never quit attitude."

"That turned the game around," Gusman said. "We scored the next inning."

Medeiros gave up two runs, five hits, two walks and two hit batsmen, while striking out eight in his seven innings. He had allowed only two infield singles until the fifth.

Jacob White led off with a walk, took second on Brendan Uchima's sacrifice and remained there when Tanner Atiburcio popped out to first. One a 1-1 count, Rayson Romero lined a single to right-center to score White and give the Crusaders a 1-0 lead.

"I was looking for a fastball, middle away, something that I could get extended with," said Romero, who had struck out his previous at-bat. "It showed up and luckily I was on time and put a pretty good swing on it."

Romero said Medeiros' slider would come inside, while his fastball usually away. He was not ready to deal with the slider, so he said he waited for a fastball.

"He was mixing it up well, but to righties, he was coming in with the slider," Romero said. "I knew if I looked in, it would be a slider, so I was laying off. Middle-away, I was looking for a fastball."

Medeiros said the inside pitch was his cutter.

"It goes into the right-handed batters," Medeiros said. "It's a fastball with bite. It goes right underneath their hands."

The Crusaders insured their lead in the sixth, when they worked Medeiros for 30 of his 123 pitches (72 strikes). With one out, Ryder Kuhns drilled a double to right-center and was lifted for pinch runner Brett Uchima. On a 0-2 pitch, Uchima stole third while Medeiros still had the ball, but was too late with his throw to third. Medeiros then struck out Yamamoto for the second out, but the speedy Devan Stubblefield beat out a chopper about 30 feet up the third baseline for a single that scored Uchima.

As for Yamamoto, after he gave up the successive singles to Medeiros and Freitas-Fields, he retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced.

The Crusaders had little time to prepare for Medeiros' low 90-mph fastball, so they turned up the speed on the pitching machines before they left for the stadium.

"We knew it was going to be a battle," Romero said. "We just needed a couple runs and, hopefully, Jordan would come through and he did. We just rose to the occasion and did our best with what we got."