[ HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL ]
Mid-Pacific third baseman Brenton Endo fielded this ground ball yesterday and made the relay to first for the out.
Mid-Pac blanks Waiakea
Junior pitcher Jayson Kramer
comes up big for the Owls against
the second-seeded Warriors
Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru won't forget this game any time soon.
It was special for him, not only because his Owls marched into another Wally Yonamine Foundation State Baseball Championships title game, but also because of the emergence of junior pitcher Jayson Kramer.
The right-hander shut down Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion and second-seeded Waiakea last night in a 2-0 semifinal victory at Les Murakami Stadium.
HHSAA baseball
At Les Murakami Stadium.Wednesday
Game 5: Kaiser 7, Honokaa 5
6: Waiakea 5, Pearl City 1
7: Punahou 5, Baldwin 1
8: Aiea 2, Leilehua 1
9: Mid-Pacific 4, Roosevelt 3Yesterday
10: Hilo 1, Kauai 0
11: Leilehua 11, Baldwin 5
12: Pearl City 8, Roosevelt 1
13: Mid-Pacific 2, Waiakea 0
14: Punahou 4, Aiea 3Today
15: Kaiser vs. Hilo, Noon
16: Leilehua vs. Pearl City, 2:30 p.m.
17: Waiakea vs. Aiea, 5 p.m.
18: Punahou vs. Mid-Pacific, 8 p.m.
"He's the guy," said Muramaru, who will be coaching in his ninth championship game and shooting for the Owls' fifth title since 1990. "He did an unbelievable job against all of those really good hitters. I can see why they were undefeated."
Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion and third-seeded MPI (18-5) meets Punahou in today's 8 p.m. final. The Buffanblu defeated Aiea 4-3 in last night's late semifinal.
Kramer, whose last appearance was a loss to Kamehameha in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu double-elimination tournament, was itching to throw again.
He had something to prove --that he could be counted on in key situations. Senior Harrison Kuroda, who signed to play for the University of Hawaii next season, has handled -- and succeeded in -- nearly every tough pitching assignment for the Owls.
"I was so anxious to get on the mound, because it had been a while since I pitched," said Kramer, while Muramaru stood a foot away, beaming and obviously proud. "One of my big dreams is to win a state title."
That goal is one victory away, and Muramaru said he didn't know whether he would put the biggest task of the season on the shoulders of Kuroda, who pitched seven innings in Wednesday night's 4-3 quarterfinal victory over Roosevelt.
In the Warriors' dugout, two other future Rainbows reacted in different ways to the loss. They had high hopes for a championship after stringing together 15 wins without a loss this season.
Right-handed pitcher Ronnie Loeffler, who held the Owls to six hits, remained upbeat.
"I'm proud of the way we played," said Loeffler, who gave the large crowd a glimpse of things to come at Murakami Stadium. "They (the Owls) are a good, well-coached team. And they've got a great pitcher going for the final."
When asked, in effect, if he knew who would be Muramaru's pitching choice before Muramaru himself, Loeffler replied, "Kuroda," without blinking an eye.
Dominant left-hander Myles Ioane, last night's designated hitter for the Warriors, was vocal about his disappointment. He struck out, looking, for the last out of the game on a curveball by Kramer, who fanned five and didn't walk a batter while scattering four hits.
"I'm real sad right now because I was the one to make the final out," said Ioane, who has two perfect games and an ERA under 1.00 this season. If given another chance, he would have taken a swing at that final pitch.
"It's too late," he added glumly. "But I'll be back here next year."
Waiakea plays Aiea in today's 5 p.m. third-place game.
"It's always disappointing when you lose, and in this case, it's especially tough because it was our first loss of the season," Warriors coach Tommy Correa said.
MPI scored the winning run in the first inning on Kip Masuda's RBI double down the left-field line. Ryan Asato added a run-scoring single in the fifth.
At Les Murakami Stadium
Waiakea (15-1) 000 000 0 -- 0 4 0 Mid-Pacific (18-5) 100 010 x -- 2 6 0 Ronnie Loeffler and Avery Kagawa; Jayson Kramer and Kip Masuda. W--Kramer. L--Loeffler.
Leading hitters--Waiak: Kagawa 2b; Dane Inouye 2b. MPI: Ryan Asato RBI; Masuda 2-3, 2b, RBI.Punahou 4, Aiea 3: Buffanblu first baseman Kasey Ko knows what it feels like to come close to winning a state championship, but he doesn't want to come close tonight.
Ko and the Buffanblu (19-6) want to go all the way when they face Interscholastic League of Honolulu nemesis Mid-Pacific in the finals of the Wally Yonamine Foundation State Baseball Championships.
They hung on to beat Aiea 4-3 in last night's late semifinal in front of 1,924 at Les Murakami Stadium. Ko drove in two runs, including what turned out to be the game-winner in the fifth.
"Every game has been close against Mid-Pacific," Ko said. "We're going to have to suck it up and pull through."
The 8 p.m. all-ILH final is a rematch of the league championship game, won by the Owls.
"It was a championship-caliber game all around (against Aiea)," Punahou coach Eric Kadooka said. "And we're happy we're playing Mid-Pac. They're like our big brothers and we wanted to play them again. Playing against them, Saint Louis and Kamehameha all year really prepared us for getting this far. "
The Buffanblu are making their first title-game appearance since 1997, when they came up short against Iolani, and they're looking for their first state championship since 1989, when they edged Saint Louis 9-8.
After taking a 4-0 lead in the top of the fifth, the Buffanblu had to fend off hard-charging Na Alii (13-2).
For Aiea, the whole game was a case of missed opportunities. It stranded runners in scoring position in the second, fourth and fifth frames and made crucial baserunning blunders. Despite the loss and the mistakes, Aiea coach Ryan Kato encouraged his boys to keep their heads up after the game.
"Think about how much the person next to you means," Kato told them. "Someone had to lose. What we did was an accomplishment."
Aiea failed in its bid to make it to the title game for the first time since 1976, when it beat McKinley for the title.
At Les Murakami Stadium
Punahou (19-6) 101 020 0 -- 4 8 2 Aiea (13-2) 000 030 0 -- 3 4 2 Kurt Fujitani, Landon Nakata (5), Shaun Kiriu (7) and Robert Kurisu; Shawn Hao, Blaze Moleta (5) and Aaron Asher. W--Fujitani. L--Hao. S--Kiriu.
Leading hitters--Pun: Noah Phillips RBI; Kasey Ko 2-3, 2b, 2 RBIs. Aiea: Aaron Asher RBI; Dylan Libadisos 2b; Shane Koga 2b, RBI; Lance Powell RBI.Pearl City 8, Roosevelt 1: The Chargers (12-5) scored five runs on seven hits in the first inning and never looked back.
Rex Yamaguchi went 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI to lead Pearl City, which plays OIA West rival Leilehua in today's fifth-place game.
Derek Shigano drove in the only run for the OIA runner-up Rough Riders (11-6). The game was called in the bottom of the sixth inning due to a two-hour time limit.
Roosevelt (11-6) 010 000 -- 1 3 0 Pearl City (12-5) 512 000 -- 8 13 0 David Chow, Kalani Yoshimura (1), Justin Goo (2), Nick Wong (5) and Kevin Fujii; Corey Giammalvo, Craig Calantoc (2), Thomas Yamasaki (6) and Kyle Poentis, Giammalvo (2). W--Chow. L--Calantoc.
Leading hitters--Roos: Derek Shigano 2-2, RBI. PC: Blake Kaneshiro 2-3; Rex Yamaguchi 3-4, 3b, RBI; Giammalvo 2-3; Casey Fujishige 2 RBIs; Kyle Fukuda 2-2, 2 RBIs.Leilehua 11, Baldwin 5, 5 inn.: The Mules shook off their tough 2-1 quarterfinal loss to Aiea by scoring 10 first-inning runs.
Kelsey Yoshikami doubled and drove in three runs in the victory. OIA West Division champ Leilehua (12-3) had only five hits, but took advantage of seven walks by four Bears pitchers.
Andrew Ontai pitched a complete game, scattering seven hits for the win.
Maui Interscholastic League champion and fourth-seeded Baldwin finished its season 13-3.
The game was called after five innings due to the time limit.
Baldwin (13-3) 041 00 -- 5 7 2 Leilehua (12-3) (10)00 01 -- 11 5 2 Derrick Saito, Kale Moniz (1), Jimmy Legsay (1), Cody Nakamura (5) and Aaron Joyo and Kainoa Klask (5); Andrew Ontai and Jesse Matsuura. W--Ontai. L--Saito.
Leading hitters--Bald: Shevis Shima 2-3, RBI; Kimo Klask 2-3, 2 RBIs, B.J. Strahan 2b, RBI. Leil: Ontai 3b, RBI; Bryant Moniz 2 RBIs; Spencer Omalza 2b, RBI; Matsuura 2b, RBI; Ross Masuhara RBI; Joshua Fetters RBI; Bryan Cabalce RBI; Kelsey Yoshikami 2b, 3 RBIs.Hilo 1, Kauai 0: Matthew Haasenritter drove in the game's only run with a single in the fourth inning as the Vikings (13-3) ruined Kirby Yates' two-hitter.
Haasenritter also pitched a complete-game five-hitter. Hilo moved to today's consolation final at noon against Kaiser.
Yates, the brother of New York Mets minor leaguer Tyler Yates, struck out 10 in six innings.
The Kauai Interscholastic Federation champion Red Raiders finished their season at 9-4.
Kauai (9-4) 000 000 0 -- 0 5 1 Hilo (13-3) 000 100 x -- 1 2 0 Kirby Yates and Daryl Higashi; Matthew Haasenritter and Keola Holt-Mizuguchi. W--Haasenritter. L--Yates.
Leading hitters--Hilo: Haasenritter RBI.
Judo tourney kicks off tomorrow
Four individuals and two teams are set to defend their titles in the Judo Black Belt Association of Hawaii State Judo Championships at the McKinley gym tomorrow.
Kahuku's Thoran Evans (105-pound class), Maryknoll's Tabitha Lum (98), Iolani's Catherine Chan (103) and Mililani's Corey Jo Tashima (109) are the judo standouts looking to make it two in a row.
Tashima was a Pearl City student when she won her championship a year ago in the inaugural state meet.
The Pearl City boys and Kahuku girls are defending their team titles.
Weigh-ins start at 9 a.m. and matches begin at 11.
