ILH Baseball
Crusaders beat Warriors, 5-1, for ILH D1 title


  



Mon, Apr 24, 2017 @ [ 3:00 pm ]


FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Kamehameha 0 000010112
Saint Louis 2 0 0210X542

W: Dawson Yamaguchi    L: Hunter Breault

STL: Keith Torres III 1-1 2 runs trp; Dawson Yamaguchi 5.6 IP 1 ER 4 K
KSK: Jesse Awa 1-1 dbl; Hunter Breault 3.0 IP 2 ER 4 K


MCCULLY — Saint Louis survived the double-elimination bracket and two postponements to beat Kamehameha, 5-1, to capture its first Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I title since 2011 and 35th overall Monday at Ala Wai Community Park.

"Nobody knows the hard work these guys put in," Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. "The Kenny Patton training, the lifting, the running. It's a long season. The road is never straight, narrow and it's got bumps and curves. For us to maneuver that, I couldn't be prouder."

The No. 1 Crusaders (16-5) earned the top seed for the 59th Wally Yonamine Foundation Division I state baseball tournament, which opens Wednesday at Les Murakami Stadium. Saint Louis is seeking its first state title since 2014. Saint Louis will play the winner of Wednesday's opening round game between Maui and Mililani.

The No. 2 Warriors (14-6), who dropped three in a row to the Crusaders and 2-5 overall this season, will open the state tournament against Kalani, 7 p.m. Wednesday.

"They came out to play," Kamehameha coach Tommy Perkins said of the Crusaders. "We came out flat. They played a hell of a game."

Once again, it was crafty left-hander Dawson Yamaguchi leading the Crusaders. The hottest pitcher in the state pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-hit ball, allowing his first run after 26 consecutive scoreless innings. He walked none, struck out four and was backed by spectacular defense by right fielder Matthew Wong, who made two sliding/diving catches, including one for a double play.

"I knew the streak was over, but you really couldn't complain," Yamaguchi said. "It was unfortunate, but we got the win. It was a team win. You can't be disappointed."

The southpaw Yamaguchi, who improved to 6-1 with an earned run average of 0.74, didn't allow a hit until relief pitcher Jesse Awa, a left-hander, hit an opposite-field double to the left-center alley. A balk sent him to third, where he scored when Kawai Takemura grounded out to first baseman Aaron Renaud.

Yamaguchi had reached 80 pitches to that point, four under the two-day rest threshold, for Dylan Lum, who retired all four batters to faced, striking out two.

"I struggled to throw the slider today," Yamaguchi said. "I couldn't try to force it; I had to throw something else today. I was throwing changeups."

Yamaguchi blanked the Warriors on April 15, a game had the Warriors won would have clinched the ILH title. He threw a two-hitter.

"Dawson's done a fantastic job against us," Perkins said. "I think he's solid."

Meanwhile, the Crusaders bats supported Yamaguchi early, tagging Kamehameha starting pitcher Hunter Breault for two runs in the bottom of the first inning. The Saints sat on fastballs and hit everything hard off the Warriors hard-throwing right-hander.

Keith Torres led off with a first-pitch triple to dead center and scored on Dylan Pagente's sacrifice fly to deep left to make it 1-0. After Daniel Stephens lined out to right, Wong singled on a liner to center, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Charlie Lopez's high-hop triple to center to make it 2-0 before Kai Perriera-Alquiza flied out to center.

"Our game plan is to see first-pitch fastball, if we like it, we go and get it," Torres said. "This is the third time we've seen Hunter (Breault). I think we got his timing down, got his rhythm and capitalized on the fastballs that he threw."

"Hunter threw pretty good, but they timed him up," Perkins added about Breault. "They hit the ball well. They had some nice breaks; the ball bounced over the center fielder."

Breault was pulled after three innings and 54 pitches, six pitches under the one-day rest threshold, although Perkins said he would not likely pitch unitl Friday or Saturday should the Warriors reach that far in the tournament.

"The layoff was not good for anyone," Gusman said. "It was not good for our league. But on the other hand, it gave us some extra days to prepare for their best pitcher. I think that helped in the first inning. And obviously for (Breault), he hasn't pitched in a while, so those things happen."

But Awa didn't fare any better. With one out to in the fourth inning, he walked Makana Ontai, who took second on a wild pitch before Torres was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. After striking out Pagente, a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third before Stephens walked to load the bases. Wong delivered a two-run single to increase Saint Louis' lead to 4-0. After Wong stole second, Lopez struck out.

Saint Louis added a run in the fifth. Perreira-Alquiza reached on Awa's two-base throwing error to first. Courtesy runner Patrick Coronas took third on Hunter Peneueta's sacrifice before Renaud drew a walk to put runners at the corners. Renaud was lifted for pinch runner Cole Kashimoto, who broke for second, drawing a throw. He stayed in a rundown long enough to allow Coronas to score on the fielder's choice before being tagged out. Ontai then popped out to first to end the frame.

The only way these teams meet for the eight time this season is if they reach the state title game. Both have the pitching depth to do so.



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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