Chase for the Championship
Kailua, Iolani, Punahou move on to D1 quarters


Stacy Kaneshiro | ScoringLive
May 8, 2018, 6:32pm

 


No. 7 PUNAHOU 6, PEARL CITY 2

No. 7 Punahou got strong pitching out of its bullpen and used a four-run seventh inning to turn back Pearl City, 6-2, Tuesday night in the opening round of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Division I Baseball State tournament at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Buffanblu (14-6) will play No. 1 and top-seeded Baldwin in Wednesday's 4:30 p.m. quarterfinal.

Matthew McConnell pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings of two-hit ball before giving way to Kyson Donahue, who moved over from shortstop, to get the final two outs to end the game.

"He's just throwing strikes," Punahou coach Keenan Sue said of McConnell. "It's not that complicated. You throw the ball over the plate, good things happen. That's what (Pearl City starting pitcher) Cade Halemanu did. He did an amazing job. We got lucky with a few timely hits, so that's baseball."

Punahou starting pitcher Kahi Bisho pitched four innings, allowing two runs, three hits and five walks with six strikeouts. But he was pulled after 98 pitches.

"We always tell our guys as the starting pitcher, if you cannot have your ‘A' game and still keep us where we are, which I think was 2-2 at the time, you did your job. That to me is a competitor, not to have your best stuff and still go out there and do what they needed to do to for the team."

Kalae Harrison's RBI triple off of Pearl City starter Halemanu in the top of the seventh ignited the Buffanblu's big inning.

"The best kind of hit-and-run is the triple," Sue said of Harrison's hit. "He was supposed to put that on the ground, but he ended up putting it over the right fielder's head, so it's a good mistake."

Added Harrison: "Coach called a hit-and-run, but (the pitch) was a little up so I tried to get on top of it. Got a little lucky, got it over the right fielder. I was trying to stay on it so I could create backspin on the ball. I tried my best to get it on the ground, but it went over the right fielder."

Halemanu went six-plus innings, allowing six run, two unearned, eight hits and a walk with five strikeouts. Alika Almaraz retired the three batters he faced that ended the sixth for Pearl City.

Asa Kurasaki batted 3 for 3 for Punahou, falling a home run shy of the cycle.

With the game tied at 2 entering the top of the seventh, Kirk Terada-Herzer reached on first baseman Carter Hirano's error. He fielded the grounder behind first, but Halemanu was late covering. Carter slid into the first base bag to beat out Terada-Herzer, but dropped the ball in the process. Harrison followed with his triple and scored on Kurasaki's triple to right. Ola Aina's RBI single made it 5-2. Aina stole second, took third on a ground out and scored on Jake Tsukada's sacrifice fly to right before Donahue flied out to end the inning.

Micah Yonamine reached four times for Iolani, batting 3 for 3 with a double and RBI.

KALANI 1, No. 4 IOLANI 11

Three Iolani pitchers collaborated on a one-hitter as No. 4 Iolani rolled over Kalani, 11-1, in a game called in the bottom of the sixth because of the mercy rule Tuesday afternoon at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Raiders (15-5-1) advance to the quarterfinals of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Division I Baseball State Tournament against fourth-seeded Mililani at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Starting pitcher Trevor Ichimura threw four perfect innings without allowing a batted ball out of the infield. He had two strikeouts in picking up the win. Brandon Yamane pitched the fifth, hitting Duke Knott with a pitch before allowing an RBI double to Noah Nakasone to spoil the no-hit bid. He retired three of the next four batters to keep the score 9-1. Aaron Wehrman added a scoreless inning of relief for the Raiders.

"I was a little disappointed but at the same time, we have to manage our pitching the best way we can, so it was best for our team," Ichimura said of being pulled out of his perfect game bid. However, having thrown just 46 pitches, he is eligible to return to the mound by Thursday.

Raiders coach Kurt Miyahira said the staff will see how Ichimura feels by then to see if he might want to use the right-hander by then.

"That was the plan," Miyahira said of Ichimura's efficiency. "He just executed. Credit to him."

"We'll see how my arm feels tomorrow," Ichimura added. "That's a possibility (of pitching Thursday)."

Kalani starting pitcher Riece Myers deserved a better fate. He pitched 4 2/3 innings and was charged with nine runs, seven hits and two walks. But seven of the team's eight errors accounted for eight unearned runs. Jarod Kaneshiro added 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Pablo Ruelas entered the bottom of the sixth trailing, 9-1. He allowed a single to Matthew Inaba and a double to Micah Yonamine to put runners at second and third. Shane Sasaki hit a fly to right fielder Knott, who dropped the ball for the eighth error of the game, scoring both runners to end the game for the 10-run differential.

Miyahira mixed two- and four-seam fastballs against the Falcons, who grounded out 10 times and struck out twice.

"The two-seam really sets up the batters for the four-seam because it has a little dip to it because they're not ready for it," Ichimura said.

The Raiders owned a 3-0 lead when they put the game away when they sent 10 batters to the plate in a six-run fourth. Two errors in the inning accounted for five unearned runs. Micah Yonamine reached four times for Iolani, batting 3 for 3 with a double and RBI.


Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




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