HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
Kamehameha happy to earn a date with Iolani
Moments after Kamehameha's 4-3 win over Mid-Pacific last night at Aloha Stadium, Warriors coach Vern Ramie's thoughts turned toward scraping together some pitching for today's game against Iolani.
ILH baseball
Championship Tournament
Yesterday
10: Kamehameha 4, Mid-Pacific 3
today
11: Iolani vs. Kamehameha, at Aloha Stadium, 3 p.m.
Monday
12: Punahou vs. Winner Game 11, at Aloha Stadium, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday
13: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 12, if necessary, at Central Oahu Regional Park, 5 p.m.
OIA Baseball
Championship Tournament
Seeds: East--1. Moanalua. 2. Kaiser. 3. Kailua. 4. Kalani. 5. Castle. 6. Roosevelt. West--1. Aiea. 2. Pearl City. 3. Leilehua. 4. Mililani. 5. Waianae. 6. Campbell.
today
At Central Oahu Regional Park
13: Fifth place--Castle vs. Leilehua, 10 a.m.
14: Third place--Kailua vs. Kaiser, 1 p.m.
15: Championship--Aiea vs. Moanalua, 5:30 p.m.
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But it's a problem he's more than willing to endure.
"It means we're still playing," Ramie said. "We're happy to have the opportunity, and hopefully we'll make the best of it."
Kamehameha (8-8) scored four unearned runs in the second inning to avoid elimination in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball tournament. The Warriors face Iolani today at 3 p.m. at Aloha Stadium. The winner survives to take on regular-season champion Punahou.
A young MPI team ended its season at 8-8 with last night's loss.
Kamehameha got solid pitching from junior Kapono Chang and freshman Christopher Pascual to advance another day.
Two costly MPI throwing errors led to two of Kamehameha's runs in the top of the second. A sacrifice fly by Royce Piiohia and Aaron Nichols' RBI single contributed to the Warriors' four-run outburst. Chang, who took the loss in a 6-0 defeat to MPI earlier this season, surrendered two unearned runs in the bottom of the second, but kept the Owls off the scoreboard before being lifted in the fifth.
"My fastball was OK, my curveball wasn't breaking on the outside as well as I wanted, but I was hitting my spots and keeping them guessing," Chang said.
MPI closed to within a run on Blayne Fuke's RBI single in the fifth. But Pascual battled back and retired the final seven batters in order to close out the game.
"We just told him to hit the glove and make sure we throw strikes," Kamehameha catcher Stuart Kam said. "It is a lot of pressure for him, but he manned up."
MPI junior left-hander Austin Sloan pitched 5 2/3 innings of effective relief, limiting the Warriors to four singles.
But the Owls' comeback fell just short, as they left runners at third in the fourth and fifth innings, and went down in order in the sixth and seventh. It was yet another close call for a youthful MPI team that included 11 freshmen and sophomores on the 25-player roster.
"We're always two runs short, one run to tie and one run to win," MPI coach Dunn Muramaru said. "We've played so many one-run games, it's unbelievable. I don't think we were out of any game this season, so that was good. These kids battle, but we were a little short."
At Aloha Stadium
Kamehameha (8-8) |
040 |
000 |
0 |
-- |
4 |
5 |
1
|
Mid-Pacific (8-8) |
020 |
010 |
0 |
-- |
3 |
7 |
2 |
Kapono Chang, Christopher Pascual (5) and Stuart Kam. Jared Hara, Austin Sloan (2) and Aron Fujiki. W--Pascual. L--Hara.
Leading hitters--Kam: Mitchell Kauweloa 2-3. MPI: Blayne Fuke 2-3, RBI, SB.