Pascual sparks Kamehameha past Iolani

There was a red glow from the eyes of Kamehameha ace Chris Pascual yesterday.

Pascual, a senior, donned red contact lenses for the first time and promptly quelled the Iolani Raiders in a 5-2 win to open the Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball tournament.

The left-hander struck out 10, scattered five hits, walked one and allowed two unearned runs against a team that had beaten the Warriors just five days earlier.

Kamehameha (21-12-3 overall) will meet tomorrow's Punahou-Maryknoll winner on Tuesday in the double-elimination tourney.

"We had trouble closing out wins in the regular season. Today, we did the things we needed to do to win," Warriors coach Vern Ramie said.

Pascual did not make a start against Iolani until yesterday. His fastball and changeup were tough, but when his curveball kicked in during the fourth inning, he became virtually unhittable. He allowed only one hit after the third inning, striking out six of the last 15 Iolani batters.

"Pascual threw a great game," Iolani coach Dean Yonamine said. "We just didn't hit the ball today. That's just the way it goes. Now we gotta win 'em all."

Iolani pitchers Jarrett Arakawa and Kelsey Outram were steady, limiting the top six Warriors in the lineup to a combined 3-for-20 (.150) performance. However, No. 7 hitter Michael Tokunaga had a 3-for-3 effort, including a pair of two-out RBI singles.

The Raiders jumped ahead in the bottom of the first when Arakawa hammered the first of his two doubles and came home on a a throwing error by Kamehameha third baseman Makana Ramie. Breland Almadova, who reached base on the error, crossed home plate after Reyn Nagamine stroked an 0-2 pitch to right for a single and Iolani led 2-0.

A triple by Ula Nakamura and a two-out single to right by Tokunaga gave the Warriors their first run in the top of the second. After a hit-and-run single by Ramie, T.C. Campbell delivered a single up the middle to bring home Tokunaga with the tying run.

Iolani had runners at the corners in the third, but Pascual whiffed Grant Liu to end the threat. While Pascual settled into a groove, Kamehameha added two runs in the fourth.

Tokunaga, the first batter to face reliever Outram, singled to left and the ball scooted out of the grasp of left fielder Aaron Fong for a two-base error. That allowed Kalei Hanawahine to score.

Another Iolani infield error allowed Campbell to reach base, and Tokunaga scored to give Kamehameha a 4-2 lead.

Kamehameha added a final run in the fifth frame after Tokunaga slapped a single to left, scoring Piikea Kitamura for a 5-2 advantage.

Pascual, who says the red contacts make it easier to see the ball under the sun, saw the value of his complete-game effort.

"Our bullpen this year is smaller. We only have two seniors there, so we saved our arms for future games," he said.