Brian Bautista | SL

---

Brian Bautista | SL

---

WAIPAHU — Around 2 o'clock Tuesday afternoon, Reyn Sugai found himself scrambling. Some three and a half hours later, however, the PAC-5 baseball coach was all smiles. 

Brayden Bello's two-out run-scoring single in the bottom of the second inning was just about all the offense PAC-5 needed behind five innings of four-hit ball from its ace Colten Amai Nakagawa to help the Wolfpack pull out a 2-1 win over Kamehameha before a crowd of about 300 fans at Hans L'Orange Park. 

The result secured the Wolfpack (9-3) with the Interscholastic League of Honolulu double-elimination tournament title at the expense of the Warriors (11-2), who claimed the league's regular season crown. Consequently, the teams will square off for the third time in four days Thursday afternoon for the overall ILH championship. 

Though PAC-5 had already secured a spot in the state tournament five days prior, the prospect of a league title at the Division I level — which, to Sugai's understanding, would be the very first in program history — looms over Thursday's rematch. 

It will mark the fifth meeting between the Wolfpack, who are ranked third in this week's ScoringLive Power Rankings, and the second-ranked Warriors. They have split their first four games. 

"They said that we never qualified for states before so I'm assuming that there hasn't ever been an ILH championship, so tomorrow will be fun; maybe we can make history or whatnot," said Sugai, the third-year PAC-5 coach.

That opportunity would not be on the table if Sugai's squad failed to take care of business Tuesday. A Kamehameha win would have locked up a fourth consecutive ILH championship for the Warriors. Instead, the Wolfpack forced a winner-take-all scenario. 

"It would mean a lot to win it," said Amai Nakagawa, a senior left-handed pitcher. 

"This program has come a long way since coach Reyn took over three years ago. I felt like every single year we've been building up to this point, so I mean, we just got to keep working," he added. 

Much of the game was a pitcher's duel between Amai Nakagawa, who is signed with the University of Hawaii, and Kamehameha junior southpaw Kaikea Patoc-Young, a University of Southern California commit. 

Patoc-Young went the distance and recorded nine strikeouts in the process. He did not walk a batter and only got to a three-ball count four times. The 6-foot-1, 165-pound flamethrower registered first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 27 batters and fired 68 of his 99 pitches for strikes. Patoc-Young got PAC-5 batters to swing and miss a staggering 22 times. 

"Kaikea's a great pitcher, credit to him. I mean, we just saw a lot of fastballs and his breaking stuff was really good and his change-up was really good, too," said Amai Nakagawa, who managed one of his team's five hits off of Patoc-Young with his single through left side of the infield to lead off the top of the fourth inning. 

Although Patoc-Young limited the Wolfpack to just five hits, three of them came from consecutive batters with two outs in the top of the second inning. 

Keaka Bennett got the two-out rally started with a single to short left center. Noah Keitzer then hit a bloop single behind first base to put two runners aboard. Bello followed with a single to right that fell between a trio of defenders and allowed Bennett to score from second. 

"I was just looking fastball, it was a fastball right down the middle and I (hit it to the opposite field) in right center, that's it," Bello said of the 2-1 offering from Patoc-Young. 

Bello was the beneficiary of some bad news Sugai received just 90 minutes prior to first pitch. Starting second baseman Colten Gallano came down with an illness during the school day and would not be available to play. 

"He got sick at school and it was like two o'clock and it was like, ‘oh, my God, we gotta scratch him from the lineup,' and then Bello was the next man up and he was ready to go and he got his opportunity," Sugai said. 

Coming into Tuesday, Bello recorded at-bats in just two games all season. His last action came on Apr. 17, when he batted 0 for 1 in a loss to Mid-Pacific. 

Sugai disclosed that Bello suffered a concussion during the wrestling season that severely limited his opportunities on the diamond this spring. 

"He had a good portion of the beginning of the season where he actually wasn't even cleared to run or anything, so I mean, we knew it was going to take time. He's a good hitter and with the season getting cut short, he just didn't get a lot of opportunities, but we just kept telling him to be ready," Sugai said. 

Amai Nakagawa, who, like Bello, attends University Lab, was thrilled to see his schoolmate come through when his number was called. 

"That's amazing. I mean, he comes to practice ready to work every single day. He's a great human being, I love being around him and it's just great to see that all the work he's put in paid off," Amai Nakagawa said. 

Bello, to be sure, was eager to cash in for his teammates and coaches.

"The coaches put me in and then I had to take my shot," he said. 

Sugai figured that in a game featuring both team's aces, the team that clutched up with runners in scoring position would come out on top. 

"That was everything. I mean, (Patoc-Young) pitched a phenomenal game today and it was basically gonna come down to who can get a timely hit, or if they give a free base, who's going to take advantage of it kind of thing and luckily, you know, Bello stepped up; it was huge," Sugai said. 

On Bello's base-knock, the ball was mishandled by the right fielder and Noah Keitzer, who got a big jump from first off the crack of the bat, hustled all the way in to score and give his team a 2-0 lead. 

"He's a young guy, too, so yeah, the hustle part was huge; He just kept running with his head down and it was nice to see," Sugai said. 

The Warriors got a run back in the bottom of the second on a two-out rally of their own. 

Kino Adams drew a four-pitch walk off Amai Nakagawa before Patoc-Young singled to put two runners on. Mahiehie Kawai singled on an 0-1 pitch to short center. Katin Tilton, who was courtesy running for Adams, the catcher, rounded third on Kawai's single, but slipped and lost his footing about 40 feet from home. The throw from the outfield was cut off, but the relay from the first baseman was in the dirt and got away from catcher, which allowed Tilton to score on the play. 

Both trail runners advanced into scoring position on the throwing error, but Amai Nakagawa got Eleu Colburn to strike out swinging to get out of the inning. 

"Errors happen but it's about how you're going to handle it on the next pitch and so he did a good job with that and limited the damage; that was huge," Sugai said. 

Amai Nakagawa got out of another jam in the bottom of the third. He allowed a leadoff single by Coen Sardinha then struck out Ryeder Takahashi, but a dropped third strike allowed Sardinha to move to second. Sardinha advanced to third on a ground out to put the tying run 90 feet away. 

After Amai Nakagawa registered a first-pitch strike to clean-up hitter Bronson Boucher, the Warriors' first baseman put the next pitch into play. Boucher got jammed and the ball trickled some 10 feet in front of home plate. Amai Nakagawa charged off the mound, barehanded the ball, spun and fired a laser to first baseman Bennett to get Boucher by a half-step. 

"I just saw the ball and you know, you just gotta get off that mound, right? Got to make a play; can't let that run score," Amai Nakagawa said. 

Sugai praised the veteran lefty for keeping his composure and getting the out. 

"Oh yeah, that was huge. He's just a competitor and at the end of the day, if he doesn't have his stuff, he'll find a way to get the job done. It's nice to see how mature he's become and how he's developed in that aspect mentally and physically and just being a leader, you know, making plays like that, I can't teach that kind of stuff," Sugai said. 

Amai Nakagawa stranded two more base runners in the bottom of the fourth before he worked a clean fifth, his final inning of work. Amai Nakagawa scattered four hits and three walks with five strikeouts. 

"I didn't have my best stuff today. I felt like I was rushing on the mound, but in between innings I was talking with my coach, coach Kelly (Meguro), and we were just working on some stuff," said Amai Nakagawa, who faced 21 batters and threw 55 of his 92 total pitches for strikes. 

"I told myself to slow down and sync myself up a lot more. I gotta say thank you to my defense and the guy behind the plate, Thomas Mitchell," he added. 

Amai Nakagawa improved to 4-0 on the year with a 1.02 earned run average. 

Patoc-Young was dealt his first loss and is now 4-1 with a 1.85 ERA. 

Zion Cornog worked around a leadoff walk to pitch a scoreless sixth and Alika Ahu got the final three outs to pick up the save. 

The Warriors stranded eight base runners in all, including six in scoring position. Sardinha and Kawai each paired hits and Adams walked twice in the loss.

First pitch Thursday at Patsy T. Mink/Central Oahu Regional Park is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.