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Punahou’s Pate notches
another shutout: MPI

In the span of one week, Jared Pate has made quick work of two formidable foes.

His latest conquest came yesterday with a five-hitter as Punahou blanked Mid-Pacific 3-0 at blustery Aloha Stadium. In the process, the senior right-hander extended his string of shutout innings to 12 after two regular-season starts.

Punahou improved to 3-0-1 in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu (16-1-1 overall). For Punahou, the win felt especially good after a tie at Iolani on Tuesday, the result of three errors by Punahou's defense in the seventh inning.

"The team came back as a group. They were tested several times defensively and came through," Buffanblu coach Eric Kadooka said. "Jared threw a lot better than he did against Kamehameha."

Pate fired a no-hitter a week ago against fifth-ranked Kamehameha.

"I couldn't get my curveball over against them," he said. "Only 20 percent were for strikes -- that's why coach was mad at me. Today, it was more like 85 percent."

Pate's curve, slider and fastball kept Mid-Pacific off-balance much of the way.

"He got strikes over early and hit the corners in some key at-bats," Kadooka said. "His overall command shows he's a senior compared to when he was just a freshman."

Mid-Pacific, ranked No. 2, slipped to 2-2 in league play (12-7 overall).

Punahou's victory in a rematch of last year's state championship game, came in the third game of an ILH quadrupleheader. Earlier, Pac-Five defeated Maryknoll 6-2, and Saint Louis pulled away late for a 7-1 win over Damien. Kamehameha beat Iolani 14-8 in the late game.

Pate fanned three of the first eight Owls, finishing with five strikeouts and two walks. Meanwhile, Landon Nakata continued his prolific hitting pace. He belted a line drive into the left-center gap and raced around the bags for an inside-the-park home run. That gave Pate and the Buffanblu a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

"I saw only fastballs. He was having a hard time with his control," Nakata said. "I'm seeing the ball pretty good."

MPI starting pitcher Christian Flowers left after 2 2/3 innings after being hit by Bucky Aona's hard ground ball. Flowers allowed one run on two hits with one strikeout.

Kip Masuda socked a ground-rule double to left with one out in the fourth. That ended Pate's string of no-hit innings at 8 1/3, but it didn't matter.

The Buffanblu tacked on a run in the fourth inning against reliever Kyle Sakamoto, who hit two batters in the frame. Steven Dannaway reached base after being hit, moved to second on Paul Snieder's sacrifice bunt, and came home on Maika Murashige's single to center.

Pate's defense was stellar. Even the lone error, on a grounder behind second base in the fifth inning, was testimony to Nakata's impressive range at shortstop. A moment later, Nakata made a diving catch of a liner by Nick Furumoto to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, Kasey Ko drilled a two-out triple to deep center off MPI's third pitcher, Jared Hara. Ko's hit scored pinch runner Lane Suzuki from first to give Punahou a 3-0 lead.

Mid-Pacific (2-2)	000	000	0	--	0	5	1
Punahou (3-0-1)	100	110	X	--	3	4	1

Christian Flowers, Kyle Sakamoto (3), Jared Hara (5) and Kip Masuda. Jared Pate and Michael Chock.
W--Pate. L--Flowers.
Leading hitters--MPI: Chad Takabuku 1-2. Pun: Landon Nakata 1-3, HR; Kasey Ko 1-3, 3b, RBI; Maika Murashige 1-2, RBI.

No. 3 Saint Louis 7, Damien 1

Grant Costa struck out nine batters to lead the Crusaders past the Monarchs.

Shaun Kauleinamoku had three hits in the win, while Keli'i Zablan drove in three runs and hit a home run.

At Aloha Stadium

Damien (0-4)	001	000	0	--	1	6	4
Saint Louis (4-0)	001	213	x	--	7	6	0

Evander Ledward, Christian Stephenson (5) and Kai Higa. Grant Costa and Sheldon Santiago.
W--Santiago. L--Ledward.
Leading hitters--Dam: Higa, 2b, RBI; Travis Derby, 2b. StL: Shaun Kauleinamoku, 3-4; Keli'i Zablan, 2-4, 3 RBIs, 2b, home run, 2 runs; Ryan Brilhante, 2 runs.

No. 5 Kamehameha 15, No. 9 Iolani 8

In the late game, Waylen Sing Chow pitched four scoreless innings in relief as the Warriors rallied to win. Sing Chow scattered three hits, fanned two and walked none to pick up his second win this week.

Iolani led 6-0, but Raider pitchers issued 11 walks to help Kamehameha come back. Nick Freitas broke an 8-all tie with a 3-run homer to left in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Jayson Rego finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs to help spark the Warriors (3-1, 19-4 overall). Chris Johnson took the loss for Iolani (1-2-1, 11-5-1 overall).

Iolani	330	200	0	--	8	7	4
Kamehameha	041	253	x	--	15	10	3

Wally Marciel, B.J. Takushi (3), Robson Bunda (3), Chris Johnson (4), Jarvis Nohara (5), Jon Nakada (6) and Riley Yamamoto. Koa Kaleo, Eric Price (2), Sing Chow (4) and Stuart Kam.
W--Waylen Sing Chow. L--Chris Johnson.
Leading hitters--Iolani: Kyson Morikuni 2-4, triple, double, RBI; Mark Factora 1-2, HR, 2 RBIs; Brett Hasegawa 2-3; Kamehameha: Jayson Rego 3-5, 3 RBIs, 2 runs, 2 SB; Ryson Mauricio 2 runs; Nick Freitas 1-3, HR, 3 RBIs, 2 runs; Stuart Kam 2 runs, double; Kamu Freitas 2-4, HR, 2 runs, RBI; Aaron Nichols, 3 runs, 2 SB.

Pac-Five 6, Maryknoll 2

Ronel Trias hit a two-run inside-the-park home run against Spartan starter Peter Kirst to lead the Wolfpack to their first win of the season.

Trias went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs. Though Kirst picked up the loss, he went 2-for-4 at the plate, hitting a double and scoring both Spartan runs.

At Aloha Stadium

Pac-Five (1-3)	031	001	1	--	6	6	0
Maryknoll (1-3)	000	101	0	--	2	7	1

Samson Aina , Ross Yamato (6), Nick Miyamoto (7) and Aaron Chilcote. Peter Kirst, Spencer Kim (3), Nick Holmberg (7) and Brian Tabata.

W--Aina. L--Kirst.

Leading hitters--Pac: Ronel Trias, 2-4, 3 RBIs, HR; Kama Moises, 2b, RBI; Miyamoto, 2 runs. Mryk: Brennan Young, 2b; Kirst, 2-4, 2b, 2 runs; Brian Tabata, 2b; Ikaika Duyag, 2-3.