[ HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL ]
Punahou's Shaun Kiriu pitched his way to a two-hit shutout against Kamehameha during last night's 5-0 Buffanblu victory. Kiriu also connected for a 335-foot home run over Aloha Stadium's left-field fence.
Kiriu pitches, hits
Punahou to victory
Shaun Kiriu is not a brawny, power-hitting type, but he connected for a 335-foot home run over Aloha Stadium's left-field fence to push Punahou past Kamehameha 5-0 in last night's Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball tournament winner's bracket game.
Kiriu's solo shot in the fifth inning was actually the least of his contributions. The 5-foot-9, 175-pound senior pitcher had the normally potent Kamehameha batters swinging at air, finishing with a two-hitter, nine strikeouts and no walks.
ILH Baseball Tournament
Double-elimination
Tuesday, May 4
9: Saint Louis 4, Iolani 1
10: Mid-Pacific 7, Pac-Five 1
Yesterday
11: Mid-Pacific 3, Saint Louis 1
12: Punahou 5, Kamehameha 0
Today
13: Mid-Pacific vs. Kamehameha, at Aloha Stadium, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 8
14: Punahou and Winner 13, at Aloha Stadium, 7 p.m. (championship)
Monday, May 10
15: If necessary, Punahou and Winner 13, at Aloha Stadium, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 11
Possible game to decide league runner-up, at Aloha Stadium, 7 p.m.
The Buffanblu (14-4) advanced to the tournament's championship Saturday at 7 p.m., while the Warriors (11-6) dropped to the loser's bracket for tonight's 7 p.m. elimination game against Mid-Pacific.
"I was getting my off-speed stuff over the plate," Kiriu said. "I kept them guessing."
Kiriu didn't expect the homer.
"That's the first home run I've hit over a fence -- ever," he said. "I hit the ball in the sweet spot and it just flew."
Kamehameha lefty David Parrow gave up just one hit through the first three scoreless innings until Punahou broke through with three runs in the fourth. Slugger Mark Veneri led off with a hard line-drive single off third baseman Brandon Ogimi. Later in the inning, Kaohi Downing drove in the first run with a liner to right and Landon Nakata brought the next two runs home with a double to right.
Andrew Phillips' infield single down the third-base line in the third and pinch hitter Ryson Mauricio's bloop hit to left-center in the seventh turned out to be the Warriors' only two hits.
"We were swinging at some bad pitches and didn't make adjustments," Kamehameha coach Vern Ramie said. "But even when we got a couple of guys on, we couldn't execute our bunts. You can't do that when you run into a pitcher that's throwing well. Shaun pitched a good game. We had been getting timely hitting lately, but we didn't really have the opportunities. Punahou was able to bunch hits together and that was the difference."
Kiriu's leadoff homer made it 4-0 in the fourth, and Kasey Ko added the Buffanblu's final run in the sixth when he walked and eventually crossed the plate on Steven Dannaway's squeeze bunt. Parrow finished with a six-hitter.
"I just lifted the ball a little too high, right into their sweet spots," the junior southpaw said. "I could have done better by getting ahead of the batters more. When I didn't, that's when they hit me. We've got to win (tonight) and we'll do our best."
Buffanblu coach Eric Kadooka is glad his team has a few days off before Saturday's championship.
"We can get a few days of practice in," he said. "This was a huge win for our program. We gutted it out against David and he's been pitching as well as anyone in the league. We were lucky to get some runs early."
Even if the Buffanblu lose on Saturday, they'll get another chance against the same opponent on Monday in the double-elimination tournament.
If Punahou wins the tourney Saturday, it moves on to face regular-season champion Mid-Pacific for the league's overall championship and a state berth Monday.
At Aloha Stadium
Kamehameha (11-6) 000 000 0 -- 0 2 2 Punahou (14-4) 000 311 x -- 5 6 1 David Parrow and Eli Chee; Shaun Kiriu and Robert Kurisu. W--Kiriu. L--Parrow.
Leading hitters--Pun: Kiriu HR, Kasey Ko 2-2; Kaohi Downing RBI; Landon Nakata 2b, 2 RBIs; Steven Dannaway RBI.Mid-Pacific 3, Saint Louis 1
Chris Goya's two-run single to center field drove in Chad Takabuki and Chris Freshour for the go-ahead runs and the Owls shutout the Crusaders for the rest of the game to defeat Saint Louis in a consolation bracket ILH tournament game.The Crusaders jumped out to an early lead, scoring one run in the top of the first inning on Chester Wilson's RBI double. But, the Owls would later tie it up in the bottom of the third with catcher Kip Masuda's RBI double to left.
Mid-Pacific advances to face Kamehameha tonight at 7 at Aloha Stadium.
At Aloha Stadium
Saint Louis (14-6) 100 000 0 -- 1 6 1 Mid-Pacific (15-4) 001 200 x -- 3 7 0 Danny Lee, Ryan Sasaki (4), Marc Nobriga (5) and Jowen Murray-Thornton. Conan Young and Kip Masuda. W--Young. L--Sasaki.
Leading hitters--StL: Chester Wilson 2-3, 2b, RBI; Edwin Apostol 2-2, 2b. MPI: Chris Goya 2-4, 2 RBIs; Masuda 2b, RBI; Brenton Endo 2b.
