[ HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL ]
Punahou's Michael Lam threw to first and then jumped to avoid Cody Barrett on yesterday's game-ending double play.
Pate shakes off illness
to shut out Crusaders
Punahou pitcher Jared Pate wasn't feeling well yesterday morning, but by the late afternoon, he was sky high.
Pate shook off his sick feeling and threw a one-hit, 1-0 shutout over Saint Louis (13-5) in the second round of the Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball tournament at Ala Wai Field.
"I wasn't feeling so good when I woke up," Pate said. "I was light-headed and feeling sick. And I felt awkward out there. My head wasn't in there like usual."
Pate was so dominant, it's doubtful he could have pitched much better, even without the wooziness.
The Crusaders' only hit -- by Ryan Sasaki in the third -- was a bounder over third baseman Shaun Kiriu's head. Only two other balls off Saint Louis bats reached the outfield.
Pate's performance overshadowed Marc Nobriga's two-hitter for the Crusaders. Nobriga also had five walks, and one of them -- to Kiriu, the game's leadoff batter -- was a stinger.
"I walked the first batter of the game and I can't do that," Nobriga said. "That's something my dad has been telling me not to do since I was a kid. At that point, I was just trying to get a feel for the umpire."
Kiriu moved to second on Michael Lam's groundout and scored the game's only run when Mark Veneri lined a single to left.
Veneri had both of the hits off Nobriga, who walked five and struck out five.
"Marc Nobriga's a great pitcher, but I stayed within myself and stayed within the zone I've been in lately," said Veneri, who was stranded at third after driving a double to right-center in the top of the third. "He's a great friend of mine. It's an amazing feeling to win this game because we've got a long history with the Saint Louis players. We played with all of those guys all last summer."
The "history" continued last Wednesday in a regular-season playoff game when the Crusaders edged Punahou 10-9.
"We didn't hit today as well as we've been hitting," Nobriga said. "It was really rough, not having runs to back me up. But we can't do it every game. It was Punahou's day, that's all."
The Buffanblu (13-4) made three outstanding defensive plays in the final three innings -- Pate picked off pinch runner Skyler Wells from first base in the fifth.
In the sixth, Kasey Ko stabbed a one-bounce shot down the line off Shaun Kauleinamoku's bat and tossed to Pate at first. Then, when Chester Wilson walked in the seventh, Landon Nakata scooped up Johnny Gentry's grounder and started the game-ending double play.
The Crusaders' best chance to score came in the first inning, but Ryan Sasaki was stranded at third base.
At Ala Wai Field
Punahou (13-4) 100 000 0 -- 1 2 1 Saint Louis (13-5) 000 000 0 -- 0 1 1 Jared Pate and Robert Kurisu; Marc Nobriga and Jowen Murray-Thornton. W--Pate. L--Nobriga.
Leading hitters--Pun: Mark Veneri 2-2, 2b, RBI.Kamehameha 4, Mid-Pacific 2
The defending league and state champion Warriors (10-5) appear to have overcome their midseason troubles after knocking off the regular-season-champion Owls (13-4).Stuart Kam's RBI single keyed a two-run second inning that gave pitcher Kanekoa Texeira early run support. Texeira was dominant in pitching a three-hitter and fanning nine batters.
The Warriors' Travis Young hit an RBI triple in the seventh and scored on Nick Freitas' infield single.
Chad Takabuki factored into the Owls' two runs. After hitting a fifth-inning single, Takabuki went to third on two sacrifice bunts and sprinted home on a wild pitch. In the seventh, he reached on a run-scoring fielder's choice.
At Ala Wai Field
Kamehameha (10-5) 020 000 2 -- 4 8 2 Mid-Pacific (13-4) 000 010 1 -- 2 3 1 Kanekoa Texeira and Stuart Kam; Jayson Kramer, Conan Young (3) and Kip Masuda. W--Texeira. L--Kramer.
Leading hitters--Kam: Travis Young 2-4, 3b, RBI; Nick Freitas 2-4, RBI; Keola Kaluhiokalani 2b; Eli Chee 2-3, Stuart Kam RBI. MPI: Chad Takabuki RBI.Pac-Five 10, Damien 6
Jacob Mellor smacked a pair of triples and finished with five RBIs to power the Wolfpack past the Monarchs.Tyler Inouye picked up the win for Pac-Five, but ran into trouble in the seventh. Raymond Alapai nailed a two-run single to cut the lead to four, but Samson Aina came on in relief to close the door on the Monarchs.
At Les Murakami Stadium
Damien (2-14) 000 011 4 -- 6 9 1 Pac-Five (5-10-1) 040 024 x -- 10 14 4 Duncan Ebert and Nick Zieser. Tyler Inouye, Samson Aiana (7) and Reid Uyehara. W--Inouye. L--Zieser.
Leading hitters--Dam: Ranson DeCosta 2-4; Brandon Baguio 3b; Sean Michael-Stoltzman 2-3; Robert Cuizon 3b; Raymond Alapai 2 RBIs. Pac: Ronel Trias 2-2; Ryan Taketa 3-4, RBI; Jacob Mellor 3-4, 2 3bs, 5 RBIs; Paul Nishimura 2-4; Kendal Tanigawa 3b; Nick Miyamoto 2-3.Iolani 3, Maryknoll 1
Wally Marciel pitched a three-hitter, striking out seven, and the Raiders scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning to keep their season alive.Kahiwa Letman and Galen Komo each had RBI singles in the third inning.
At Les Murakami Stadium
Maryknoll (1-14-1) 100 000 0 -- 1 3 2 Iolani (7-9) 003 000 0 -- 3 8 0 Kody Seminara, Nick Holmberg (4) and Brian Tabata. Wally Marciel and Bert Mitsunaga, Riley Yamamoto (7). W--Marciel. L--Seminara.
Leading hitters--Mryk: Seminara 2-3, 2b; David McCoy 2b. Iol: Kahiwa Letman 3-3, RBI; Galen Komo 2-3, RBI.
ILH Baseball Tournament
Double-elimination
Yesterday
1: Mid-Pacific 4, Maryknoll 3
2: Kamehameha 4, Iolani 3
3: Punahou 11, Pac-Five 2
4: Saint Louis 17, Damien 7
Today
5: Iolani 3, Maryknoll 1
6: Pac-Five 10, Damien 6
7: Kamehameha 4, Mid-Pacific 2
8: Punahou 1, Saint Louis 0
Tuesday, May 4
9: Saint Louis vs. Iolani, at Aloha Stadium, 4 p.m.
10: Mid-Pacific vs. Pac-Five, at Aloha Stadium, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, May 5
11: Winners 9 and 10, at Aloha Stadium, 4 p.m.
12: Kamehameha vs. Punahou, at Aloha Stadium, 7 p.m.
Thursday, May 6
13: Winner 11 vs. Loser 12, at Aloha Stadium, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 8
14: Winners 12 and 13, at Aloha Stadium, 7 p.m. (championship)
Monday, May 10
15: If necessary, Winners 12 and 13, at Aloha Stadium, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 11
Possible game to decide league runner-up, at Aloha Stadium, 7 p.m.
