Friday, May 22, 1998

Iolani, Mid-Pac
narrow winners

Baldwin and Waianae
also win in the quarterfinals of
the state baseball tourney

By Cindy Luis
Star-Bulletin

Some mistakes are more costly than others.

Mid-Pacific pitcher Brandon Fujimoto had one -- a balk -- that led to a Kauai run in the first inning last night at Aloha Stadium.

Fujimoto and the top-seeded Owls were near-perfect the rest of the way in defeating the Red Raiders, 3-1, in a quarterfinal game of the Hawaii High School Athletic Association/Wally Yonamine Foundation State Baseball Tournament.

It was a different story for Maui pitcher Jared Joaquin. With the Sabers two outs away from beating two-time defending state champion Iolani, Joaquin offered Brent Wong a pitch the outfielder couldn't refuse in a game the Raiders refused to lose.

Wong's sacrifice to right scored Marvin Wong from third to tie it at 2 and send the quarterfinal game into extra innings. Iolani then turned two hit-batters, a wild pitch and two singles into four runs -- all with two outs in the eighth -- to upend the Sabers for the third year in a row.

The 6-2 victory sends the Raiders into today's 7 p.m. semifinal against third-seeded Waianae. In the 4:30 p.m. semifinal, Mid-Pac plays unseeded Baldwin.

Also today, Aiea meets Hilo in a loser-out game at 9:15 a.m. In other elimination games, Kauai faces Waiakea at 11:30 a.m. and Maui takes on Mililani at 2 p.m.

"That's baseball," Maui coach Lee Yonamine said. "Just one bad inning. We played the better game all the way until the last inning. We just didn't get any breaks.

"Jared was strong but maybe lost a little focus. At 2-1, we were feeling pretty good. But Iolani's a great team and it's never over until that third out."

Joaquin gave up only one hit through the sixth -- Kainoa Obrey's monster home run in the top of the first that landed some 12 rows up in the left-field stands. Maui countered with a run on a double steal in the fourth and an inside-the-park homer by Van Delos Santos in the fifth.

With two outs in the eighth, things fell apart for Joaquin. He hit Obrey, gave up a single to Scott Tajima and hit Marvin Wong to load the bases.

Obrey scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. The Raiders scored three more times -- on a bases-loaded walk and a single -- before the Sabers ended the inning when Brad Apo's throw from right caught Tyler Kimura trying to score from third.

"I don't know how we keep doing it," Iolani coach Dean Yonamine said. "The kids keep battling. They don't give up. We tell them that as long as we've got one more out, we've got a shot."

Iolani (16-5-1)		100	000	14--6	4	2
Maui (14-2)		000	110	00--2	6	1

Marvin Wong, Erik Yamamoto (4) and Scott Tajima; Jared Joaquin, Aaron Matsui (8) and Chase Corniel.

W--Yamamoto. L--Joaquin.

Leading hitters--Iol: Kainoa Obrey solo HR; Brent Wong 2 RBI; Sean Hasegawa RBI; Jason Teruya RBI. Maui: Van Delos Santos solo HR; Chase Corniel 2-4, 2b.

Mid-Pacific 3, Kauai 1: Pinch-hitter Justin Khan's bases-loaded fly-out to left scored Blake Sing Chow with the go-ahead run in the fourth and the Owls added an insurance run in the fifth on Sing Chow's single to left.

"I think the first game you get jitters and this should help us get some momentum," Khan said. "Kauai gave us a hard time."

The Owls made it hard on themselves with several base-running mistakes. Four Mid-Pac players got picked off for what coach Dunn Muramaru called "being overly anxious."

Fujimoto settled down after the first, holding Kauai to one hit the rest of the game. The junior right-hander struck out six.

Kauai (8-7)		100	000	0--1	2	1
Mid-Pacific (15-5)	100	110	x--3  	9	2

Jason Koga and Kwinton Estacio; Brandon Fujimoto and Jacob Flick.

W--Fujimoto. L--Koga.

Leading hitters--MPI: Blake Sing Chow 2-2, RBI; Rex Rundgren 3b; Lance Takaki RBI; Bryan Lee 2b; Justin Khan RBI.

Baldwin 5, Waiakea 2: The Bears handed the fourth-seeded Warriors their first loss of the year behind the three-hit pitching of Davin Morita.

Kimo Higa drove in two runs as Baldwin ran up a 5-0 lead after four innings against its Big Island rival.

Waiakea (12-1)		000	010	1--2	3	1
Baldwin (12-5)		300	200	x--5	6	2

Jason Takamoto, Kenneth Morimoto (3) and Jason Garcia; Davin Morita and Kurt Suzuki.

W--Morita. L--Takamoto.

Leading hitters--Wai: Dan Gushiken 2-4, RBI. Bald--Kimo Higa 2-3, 2 RBI; Fausto Allosada 2b.

Waianae 6, Mililani 3: Akaniao Kozeniewski drove in four runs with a pair of two-run doubles to lead the Seariders over the Trojans.

Kozeniewski's hits came in the first and fifth innings, helping Waianae to a 5-0 lead. Mililani threatened with three late runs, but it was wasn't enough.

Waianae (13-2)		200	030	1--6	6	1
Mililani (10-5)		000	001	2--3	3	3

Phillip Sarono, Akaniao Kozeniewski (7) and Bobby Tavares; Gil Deliz, Eric Oshita (6) and Darin Aihara.

W--Sarono. L--Deliz.

Leading hitters--Wai: Akaniao Kozeniewski 2-3, 4 RBI; Kaulana Kuhaulua 2b.

Kalani 2, Roosevelt 1: Senior right-hander Shane Komine struck out 17 and Keala Fujimori scored the winning run on a passed ball in the bottom of the seventh as the Falcons eliminated the Rough Riders in a consolation quarterfinal game.

Tied at 1, Fujimori led off the seventh with a triple to left and scored when the ball got away from Roosevelt catcher Chad Kapanui. Komine held the Rough Riders to two hits, walking one.

Roosevelt (9-5)		100	000	0--1	2	1
Kalani (11-6)		000	100	1--2	6	2

Kukui Lucas and Chad Kapanui; Shane Komine and Collin Funamura.

W--Komine. L--Lucas.

Leading hitters--Roos: Chad Kapanui 3b. Kal: Matthew Galacia 2-2; Keala Fujimori 2-2, 3b, RBI.