Prep Beat
Mid-Pacific takes ILH
By Jerry Campany
with third win over Iolani
Special to the Star-BulletinThe Mid-Pacific baseball team used more than pitching, hitting and defense to become champs. The Owls became champions by keeping the game fun.
The Owls soundly beat Iolani, 7-1, to win the Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship last night at Ala Wai Field.
Mid-Pacific (14-7) gets the ILH's top seed in the state tournament, while Iolani (15-5) will compete in the tournament but not receive a seed. Iolani came into the double elimination affair as the regular season champion and top seed, but fell to Mid-Pacific three times in six days.
"We rolled through the regular season and first three rounds (of the tournament)," Iolani head coach Dean Yonamine said. "But when we became the team to beat, we started pressing and stopped having fun."
Mid-Pacific had fun, especially with Brandon Fujimoto on the mound.
The Owls' left-hander limited the Raiders to four hits and allowed their only run in the final inning when he was tired but trying to get the complete game. Fujimoto threw 108 pitches -- 64 of them for strikes -- but his desire to finish overrode his tired arm.
"I wanted to go all the way, no doubt about it," Fujimoto said. "They are a real good team, and I just wanted to beat them again. This was for the ILH."
Fujimoto thought that he might be done when his head coach, Dunn Muramaru, took a slow walk to the mound after Brent Wong led off the seventh with a triple. It was the only hard-hit ball Iolani would muster all game.
"He was really tired but battling," Muramoto said. "I only went out there to stop momentum, I wasn't going to be the one to take him out."
For all the trouble Iolani had getting to Fujimoto, Mid-Pacific had little trouble scoring against Wong. The Raiders' starting pitcher was chased after giving up four runs on five hits and four walks in 3 innings.
The Owls were sparked by leadoff hitter Garret Kuwahara, who scored two runs on three walks and a hit-by-pitch.
"He's the toughest guy we have had around here since Donnie Kadokawa," Muramaru said.
Mid-Pacific started the scoring in the first when Kuwahara walked on four pitches, went to third on a Lance Takaki single and scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Kenji Takanishi. The Owls added a run in the second when Blake Tanabe scored on a wild pitch and tallied two more when Takaki chased Wong with a two-out single in the fourth to score two runs.
Ethan Wayne got Iolani out of the jam but found trouble of his own when the Owls led off the next inning with three straight hits to score two runs.
Mid-Pacific catcher Jacob Flick went 3-for-4, including a double. But Flick's hitting is not what killed the Raiders, it was his effort behind the plate.
"Fujimoto is a tough pitcher and he knows what he's doing out there," Yonamine said. "But it's Jacob
Iolani 000 000 1--1 4 0 Mid-Pacific 110 221 x--7 9 1Brent Wong, Ethan Wayne (4) and Travis Mitsuda; Brandon Fujimoto and Jason Flick. W--Fujimoto. L--Wong.Leading hitters--MP: Lance Takaki 2-4, 2 RBI; Jacob Flick 3-4, 2 2b; Kenji Takanishi 1-4, 2 RBI.