Kamehameha
stings Mid-Pac

Kamehameha took a huge step yesterday in rebuilding its confidence.

The No. 5 Warriors' ears were still ringing from a pounding by top-ranked Punahou, but Kamehameha recovered some composure yesterday to beat No. 2 Mid-Pacific 4-1 on a clear, warm afternoon at Damon Field.

For Kamehameha (18-4, 2-1), yesterday's victory was huge, especially in the every-game-counts Interscholastic League of Honolulu.

Kamehameha pitcher David Parrow turned in a much steadier performance than his last outing vs. the Buffanblu. The senior southpaw allowed one run, scattered seven hits and struck out four. Parrow gave up four hits over the first two innings before stabilizing and retiring eight of the next nine batters he faced.

"I played better than that first outing against Punahou," Parrow said. "We made no errors today. I was in my groove today. I was hitting my spots and all my pitches were working for me.

"From that first loss, we were down and then (the game against) Damien never really picked us up. But after this our heads are up now."

The Owls (12-6, 2-1) scored first in the bottom of the first, but Kamehameha responded with two runs in the top of the third. With two outs, center fielder Jayson Rego drew a walk and scored when Makana Kitamura belted a triple that bounced off the right-field fence. Senior Nick Freitas (2-for-4) drove in Kitamura with an infield single to put the Warriors up 2-1.

Kamehameha took advantage of Mid-Pac mistakes to add two more runs in the sixth inning. The Warriors tagged Owl senior Jayson Kramer with four runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

"This gets us moving in the right direction," Warriors coach Vern Ramie said. "After you get beat as handily as we did against Punahou, I think there were some doubts in some kids' minds. Even after we played Damien (and won), I think that still was the case. To come in and play a quality team like Mid-Pac and to get some quality swings against a very good pitcher and get some timely hits, it keeps us moving in the right direction.

"We played well, but we were lucky we got away with some mistakes today. With a team like Mid-Pacific, when you make some of the minor mistakes we made, they take advantage. We were just fortunate today that David Parrow worked his way out of some tough jams and got some big outs."

Parrow did his best work when the stakes were highest.

The Owls weren't too sharp, but they attempted a late-game comeback.

With two on and no outs in the bottom of the sixth, Mid-Pac squandered a good chance before Parrow retired three consecutive batters on flyouts.

In the seventh, Parrow walked freshman Aaron Fujiki and retired the next batter before giving up back-to-back singles to load the bases. The senior ace didn't flinch and calmly got the Owls' last two batters to fly out to end the game.

"We had some mistakes that really cost us," Owls coach Dunn Muramaru said. "We got too far behind. We didn't do what we normally do. That pitcher is tough, man. Parrow bore down with people on base and made great pitches."

At Mid-Pacific Institute

Mid-Pacific (2-1)	100	000	0	--	1	7	1
Kamehameha (2-1)	002	002	0	--	4	7	0

Jayson Kramer, Jared Hara (6) and Kit Masuda. David Parrow and Kam Stuart.
W--Parrow. L--Kramer.
Leading hitters--MPI: Adam Tamashiro 2-4, 2b; Aaron Fujiki 2b. KS: Nick Freitas 2-4, RBI; Makana Kitamura 3b, RBI; Eli Chee 2-3.