MPI holds off Punahou 2-1
When tension builds, you can expect to find Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru taking a deep breath and exhaling to relieve the pressure.
He needed that survival technique last night as the Owls tipped Punahou 2-1 in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball game at Ala Wai Field.
"We got lucky," said Muramaru, whose team improved to 3-1 and moved into a tie with defending champion Kamehameha and Saint Louis at the top of the heap. "It's a real good feeling, especially since we gave away our last game to Kamehameha (a 7-6 extra-inning loss Saturday). That was bothering me for a few days."
Last night, the Owls didn't budge an inch in the late innings despite the Buffanblu's frantic effort to tie it or take the lead.
Muramaru went to the arm of his ace, Harrison Kuroda, to put his touch on the outcome. The righty didn't disappoint, going the final 2 1/3 innings to hold the one-run lead.
Still, the situation got sketchy in the seventh. With one on and two out, Punahou's Mark Veneri cracked a line drive down the right-field line. It looked like a double -- to put runners on second and third -- but when Veneri got to second base, he was called back to the plate by the umpire, who ruled the hit foul.
"I was really excited, running to third," said Punahou's Shaun Kiriu, who had singled. "I thought that was our chance. I thought it was good (fair)."
Kuroda never got too concerned about it.
"I never saw chalk fly up and that's when I get worried, because you usually see chalk on close calls like that if it's fair," he said.
Veneri ended up belting a single anyway, but Kuroda got Mike Kim to ground into a fielder's choice to end it.
Kuroda earned the save in relief of starter and winner Chris Freshour, a lefty who limited the Buffanblu (2-2) to one hit and struck out four in his 4 2/3 innings.
"Chris did a great job tonight," Kuroda said. "He's the one who set it all up for me."
Kiriu put in an effective performance on the hill for Punahou. He went the distance, allowing six hits and fanning four.
"I figure I pitched well enough to win," Kiriu said. "I was trying to keep us in the game, but we just didn't get enough runs to win."
Actually, Muramaru's decision to go with Kuroda was because of Kiriu.
"He's our best guy and he was gutty out there," Muramaru said of Kuroda.
"We had a 2-1 lead and a small window of opportunity to win the game. We're not the type of team that scores a lot of runs and I didn't think we were going to score again against Kiriu. By making the change, I was giving our players a chance to win."
Punahou stranded seven runners and made two baserunning mistakes that helped to stall rallies.
"Those errors on the basepaths affected the outcome," Punahou coach Eric Kadooka said. "It was a real good game, but we just cannot do that. Shaun really pitched well, but this loss puts us behind the 8-ball."
The Buffanblu turned two smooth double plays to snuff Mid-Pacific threats. Second baseman Michael Lam made his team's defensive play of the game, diving to his left to stop Adam Tamashiro's hard grounder before throwing to first for the third out of the seventh.
Freshour, playing first base in the latter innings, dove to snare a Lam pop foul in front of the MPI dugout in the fifth.
At Ala Wai Field
Mid-Pacific (3-1) 101 000 0 -- 2 6 2 Punahou (2-2) 100 000 0 -- 1 5 0
Chris Freshour, Harrison Kuroda (5) and Ivan Kabei and Kip Masuda (5); Shaun Kiriu and Robert Kurisu. W--Freshour. L--Kiriu. S--Kuroda.
Leading hitters--MPI: Chris Goya 3b; Kuroda 3-3; Randy Rundgren RBI 2b; Adam Tamashiro RBI. Pun: Kiriu 2-3, Mike Kim RBI.
Kamehameha 9, Pac-Five 6
The Warriors rallied for four runs off three hits and two errors in the top of the fifth inning to rally past the Wolfpack.
After Kamehameha paired runs in each of the first two innings, Pac-Five scored five runs to lead 5-4 after three innings.
At Ala Wai Field
Kamehameha (3-1) 220 040 1 -- 9 11 4 Pac-Five (1-2) 032 010 0 -- 6 12 5
Brandon Ogimi, Shige Purdy (3), David Parrow (5) and Stuart Kam. Tyler Inouye, Nick Miyamoto (7) and Aaron Chilcote. W--Parrow. L--Inouye.
Leading hitters--Kam: Dayne Ogawa 2-4, 2 2b, 2 RBIs; Travis Young 2-4, RBI; Spenser McCready triple, RBI. P5: Kendall Tanigawa 2-2, RBI; Aaron Chilcote 2-2, triple; Paul Nishimura 2-4, double.
Saint Louis 16, Iolani 5
The Crusaders scored five runs in the first inning and added eight more in the seventh to beat the Raiders.
Chester Wilson went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and Danny Lee and Mark Nobriga drove in three runs each in the win.
At Iolani
Saint Louis (3-1) 500 021 8 -- 16 21 1 Iolani (1-3) 100 201 1 -- 5 12 5
Edwin Apostol, Mark Nobriga (5) and Jowen Murray-Thornton. Eric Muraoka, Trent Muraoka (5), Christian Johnson (7), Kahiwa Litman (7) and Bert Mitsunaga. W--Apostol. L--E. Muraoka.
Leading hitters--StL: Chester Wilson 4-4, 2 RBIs, HR; Danny Lee 3-5, 3 RBIs, 2b; Nobriga 3-5, 3 RBIs; Ryan Sasaki 4-5, 2 RBIs, 2b. Iol: Kelly Teramoto 3-5, HR; Jared Nakama 4-4, 2 2bs, RBI.
OIAWest
Nanakuli 22, Waialua 6
Devan Harris and Curtis Wright drove in four runs each as the Golden Hawks picked up their first win of the year.
The game was a makeup of Saturday's postponed matchup.
At Waialua H.S.
Nanakuli (1-0) 08(12) 02 -- 22 17 1 Waialua (0-2) 123 00 -- 6 10 8
Lance Loa and Curtis Wright. Kelson Silva, Michael Kuraoka (2), Justin Manglallan (3), Shawyn Peiler (3) and Peiler, Manglallan (3). W--Loa. L--Silva.
Leading hitters--Nan: Loa 4-5, 2 RBIs, 2b; Wright 3-6, 4 RBIs; Devan Harris 3-5, 4 RBIs, 2b. Wail: Justin Barit 2-3; Socrates Menor 2-2.
OIA west junior varsity
Waianae 19, Leilehua 7, 5 inn.
