Top-seeded Iolani
has power, finesse

By Pat Bigold
Star-Bulletin

Aloha Stadium has been a graveyard for long-ball hitting teams in the Hawaii High School Athletic Association Baseball Tournament.

Defending state champion Iolani is definitely a team that can hit home runs. The Raiders (20-1) had 33 of them in the regular season.

They also have the league's all-time single-season home run hitter in Danny Kimura (nine).

But Iolani head coach Dean Yonamine said he's not going to let the stadium's outfield -- vast compared to the grass sites prep teams play at in Hawaii -- become a Black Hole for his team's power hitters.

"We practiced a lot of bunting," said Yonamine last night, after returning from a practice with his team on the stadium turf.

Bunting -- and running -- are things this Iolani team also can do, and do well.

The Raiders had 12 sacrifice bunts in the ILH schedule and they stole 40 of 42 bases.

"The fact that we bunt and run a lot opens things up for us offensively," said Yonamine.

The Raiders, who enter tomorrow's tournament as the top-seeds, have a team batting average of .432 and average 11 runs per game. Shortstop Keoni DeRenne hit .561, Kimura and Greg Omori .530.

Iolani will draw a bye until Thursday. The Raiders will play the winner of tomorrow's Kalani (8-5) vs. Kauai (10-2) game.

The other top-seeded teams are No. 2 Oahu Interscholastic Association champion Mililani (12-1), No. 3 Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion Hilo (9-1) and No. 4 Maui Interscholastic League champion Maui High (13-2).

Like Iolani, the other seeded teams draw byes until Thursday.

Admission to the stadium will be $6 for adults and $5 for students. All elementary school students wearing youth league uniforms and accompanied by a paying adult will be admitted free.

Yonamine said he reminds his players that defense is a delicate matter at Aloha Stadium.

"The slightest mistake can be magnified tremendously there," he said, referring to the springiness of the artificial turf.

"I know there are few blowout games in the state tournament -- it usually comes down to pitching," said Yonamine.

In that department, the Raiders also are solid, with a team earned run average of 2.57.

The Raiders' starting rotation includes two left-handers -- Ryan Yamamoto (5-0) and Kanoa Fong (6-0). Right-hander Kimura is 4-0 with a save.

Out of the bullpen, Thad Estrada might be one of the key reasons why Iolani is so hard to beat. He has two wins, two saves and an 0.57 ERA.

Mililani has two standout hurlers in right-handed senior Stan Tomimoto, who pitched a perfect game in the Trojans' 3-0 OIA championship victory over Pearl City last Saturday, and right-hander Justin Cayetano, who got them to the title game by handling Kaiser.

But Yonamine believes that Punahou, the unseeded ILH runner-up, has the best pitcher in the state in Justin Wayne.

Wayne, whose fastball registers in the mid to high 80s and occasionally has reached 90 mph, is the only pitcher to beat the Raiders this season.

"He's the best big-game pitcher in the state," said Yonamine.

After tomorrow's opener, Molokai (10-2) will meet Kaiser (8-5) at 2 p.m., Waiakea (10-2) will face Pearl City (11-2) at 4:30 p.m. and Punahou (15-6) will play Castle (10-2) at 7 p.m.