[ HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL ]
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Punahou's Landon Nakata forced out Saint Louis' Cody Barrett at second and relayed to first to complete a double play.
Saint Louis gets
started in ILHEdwin Apostol is much tougher
on Punahou this year
Starting fresh -- that's what the Saint Louis baseball team was all about last night.
The Crusaders edged Punahou 5-3 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu opener for both teams at Ala Wai Field. They did it with a new coach and a reinvigorated pitcher.
"I went 0-2 against them last year and really wanted to start the season with a bang," right-hander Edwin Apostol said after picking up the win. "My curve was really helping me; I was able to pick the inside spots."
Apostol limited the Buffanblu to five hits before giving way to Marc Nobriga with no outs and one runner already home in the seventh. Nobriga got pinch hitter Kaohi Downing to ground into a double play and later earned the save by inducing Michael Lam to ground out.
"It was their offense and Edwin throwing strike after strike that did it," Punahou coach Eric Kadooka said after the loss. "They had a lot more hits (10) than us (five) and they hit the ball when they needed to. It was the opposite for us. We didn't capitalize when we needed to."
Saint Louis took a 2-0 lead off of Buffanblu starter Jared Pate after one inning, giving Apostol something to work with right away.
"He was pretty relaxed and confident, and he's talented," first-year Crusaders coach Scot Paiva said about Apostol. "We definitely are fortunate to get that first win in the first game. We had a lot of players that came up with big plays."
Third baseman Danny Lee -- the team's No. 4 hitter --was one of those players. He drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly after consecutive first-inning singles by Shaun Kauleinamoku, Kelii Zablan and Chester Wilson. Johnny Gentry's ground-out RBI made it 2-0.
After Zablan's fly ball fell in for a triple in the third, Lee's bunt squeezed him home for a 3-0 bulge.
"It was a really big win for us," Lee said. "We've got a new system and new coaches and they really wanted us to start playing hard right from the beginning. They really stress teamwork."
Diving catches by Kauleinamoku in left and Ryan Sasaki at shortstop also kept Punahou down. The Buffanblu were also on the wrong end of a controversial call. With one on in the top of the third, Justin Ariki's rope to left was trapped by Kauleinamoku, who just missed making his second spectacular play of the inning. Punahou pinch runner Jay Angotti went back to first, thinking the ball was caught, and the umpires had a difficult time making a ruling. Both coaches discussed the situation with head umpire Burton Nakachi, who first ruled that Punahou should have runners on first and second. He then overruled it by calling Ariki safe at first and Angotti out at second.
Punahou didn't roll over and cut into Saint Louis' lead, making it 3-2 in the fourth on Michael Kim's RBI single and Kasey Ko's sacrifice fly.
"We came out with the mind-set that things were going to come to us," Ko said. "But after the first inning we realized that we have to play. We didn't really have the right kind of drive, and that was probably the most junk game we'll play defensively all season. I know we'll play better than that."
At Ala Wai Field
Punahou (0-1) 000 200 1 -- 3 5 3 Saint Louis (1-0) 201 020 x -- 5 10 2 Jared Pate, Kurt Fujitani (6) and Robert Kurisu. Edwin Apostol, Marc Nobriga (7) and Jowen Murray-Thornton. W--Apostol. L--Pate.
Leading hitters--Pun: Robert Kurisu 1-2; Michael Kim 1-3, RBI. Saint Louis: Kelii Zablan 2-4, 3b, 2 runs; Chester Wilson 2-4; Danny Lee 2 RBIs; Sheldon Santiago 2-2; Johnny Gentry 1-3, 2 RBIs.
Damien 5, Iolani 3
Freshman Robert Cuizon went the distance as the Monarchs beat the Raiders in both teams' ILH opener.Cuizon struck out three batters and walked none. Only one of the three runs he allowed was earned.
Third baseman Ranson DeCosta led Damien's offense with a pair of RBI doubles.
At Iolani
Damien 004 000 1 -- 5 7 5 Iolani 001 200 0 -- 3 7 1 Dam: Robert Cuizon and Brandon Baguio. Iol: Sean Freas, Trent Muraoka (7) and Bert Mitsunaga. W--Cuizon. L--Freas.
Leading hitters--Dam: Ranson DeCosta 2-4, 2 2bs 2 RBIs. Iol: Travis Nishioka 1-3 2 RBIs.
Kamehameha 5, Maryknoll 4
The defending state champion Warriors rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the bottom of the seventh to tie it before beating the Spartans in an 11-inning thriller.Kamehameha's Ryson Mauricio scored the winning run from third on a pick-off throwing error over the head of the third baseman with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th.
The Spartans jumped out to a 4-3 lead in the top of the 10th, only to have the Warriors tie it in the bottom of the inning.
At Ala Wai field
Maryknoll (0-1) 020 100 000 10 -- 4 9 6 Kamehameha (1-0) 000 000 300 11 -- 5 6 3 Peter Kirst, Nick Holmberg (7), Kody Seminara (7), Reid Nakamura (11) and Hiroshi Kuroda. Kanekoa Texeira, Brandon Ogimi (6), David Parrow (10) and Stuart Kam. W--Parrow. L--Nakamura.
Leading hitters--Mryk: Kuroda 2-5, 3 RBIs; Kirst 2-4, 2b; Nakamura 2-4, 2b, RBI, Brennan Young 2b. Kam: Keola Kaluhiokalani 2-3, RBI; Ryson Mauricio 2-4.
Mid-Pacific 5, Pac-Five 0
Owls pitcher Harrison Kuroda went the distance to shut out the Wolfpack in their ILH opener.Kuroda struck out seven while allowing only two walks.
Pac-Five allowed six runs on 11 hits and two errors. Three Mid-Pacific batters -- Kuroda, Randy Rundgren and Reece Uyeno -- connected for doubles.
At Ala Wai field
Mid-Pacific (1-0) 011 200 2 -- 6 11 1 Pac-Five (0-1) 000 000 0 -- 0 5 2 Harrison Kuroda and Kip Masuda. Tyler Inouye, Shane Osaki (7) and Aaron Chilcote. W--Kuroda. L--Inouye.
Leading hitters--MPI: Kuroda 2b; Adam Tamashiro 3-4; Chris Goya 2-3, RBI; Randy Rundgren 2b, RBI; Reece Uyeno 2-3, 2b.
