DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Mid-Pacific's Jayson Kramer was cruising with a 6-1 lead in the top of the sixth before the Warriors rallied for nine runs in the inning.

Kamehameha comes back

With thoughts and prayers for coach Vern Ramie in the back of their minds, the Kamehameha Warriors used a little two-out magic to earn their eighth straight victory.

Trailing 6-1 with two down in the bottom of the sixth, the Warriors had 10 straight batters reach base, with Makana Kitamura's three-run double punctuating a nine-run inning as No. 2 Kamehameha came from behind to defeat Mid-Pacific 10-6 yesterday at Ala Wai Field.

But even after the dramatic victory, thoughts were with Coach Ramie, who was struck in the left eye by a baseball during batting practice in the morning and was taken to the hospital.

Pitching coach Al Kam, who took over the head-coaching duties, was still awaiting word on Ramie's condition after the game.

"The ball didn't hit him very hard, but it came down right on the upper eyelid," Kam said. "When the skipper goes down, we had to come together and the boys played very hard. They knew they had to do it for Coach."

Early on, it looked like the Owls were going to run away with the game, as starting pitcher Jayson Kramer gave up just two hits over the first four innings. Mid-Pacific scored two runs in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, with the last two coming after back-to-back Warriors errors allowed runners to get on base.

But after striking out the first two batters in the sixth, Kramer hit a wall and the Warriors began the comeback. Kitamura drew a walk, Kramer's first of the game, before Nick Freitas and Stuart Kam connected on consecutive doubles to cut the lead to three.

"I was just looking fastball," Kam said of his double. "I got what I wanted and I just swung as hard as I could."

After Ryson Mauricio drew a walk, Jamie Smeigh and Eli Chee each singled in runs to make the game 6-5. Kramer nearly ended the threat, striking out Kamu Freitas. But the ball bounced in the dirt and got away from catcher Kip Masuda, allowing Freitas to take first.

Kramer then issued another walk and was 2-0 to Aaron Nichols before coach Dunn Muramaru finally went to his bullpen.

"(Jayson) is one of the better pitchers in our league, so you can't fault them for sticking with their ace," Al Kam said. "The one thing about Kamehameha baseball, though, is that we're a good fastball hitting team."

Ross Yamaguchi replaced Kramer and walked Nichols before Kitamura cleared the bases with a double for the game's final margin.

"I saw the pitch I wanted and I just unloaded on it," Kitamura said.

"We were real jacked up and this game was all for Coach. We felt a little out of place without him."

After losing 11-0 in the regular-season opener, Kamehameha has won eight straight, and yesterday's victory coupled with Friday's win over Punahou will likely give Kamehameha the No. 1 ranking in this week's Star-Bulletin Top 10.

"We've only played nine games; we're not even halfway done yet," Kam said. "It's still a long season and we're just fortunate that things have been going our way so far."

But yesterday's win has Kamehameha's confidence riding on a serious high.

"This shows we can come back from deficits and win," said Stuart Kam, who finished 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. "This was a huge weekend for us and hopefully next time out we'll continue to keep it going."

At Ala Wai Field

Mid-Pacific (5-4)	000	222	0	--	6	6	0
Kamehameha (8-1)	000	019	x	--	10	9	2

Jayson Kramer, Ross Yamaguchi (6) and Kip Masuda. Waylen Sing Chow, Koa Kaleo (6) and Stuart Kam. W--Kaleo. L--Kramer.
Leading hitters--MPI: Kramer, 2b, RBI; Adam Tamashiro, 2b, RBI. KS: Kam, 2-3, 2b, 2 RBIs; Jamie Smeigh, 2-3, RBI; Eli Chee, 2-3, run, 2 RBIs; Nick Freitas, 2b, run; Makana Kitamura, 2b, run 3 RBIs.

Damien 13, Pac-Five 12

Scotty Talasea, who went 3-for-4, hit a bases-loaded single in the seventh inning to give the Monarchs a win over the Wolfpack.

Kendall Tanigawa was 3-for-5 with two doubles and five RBIs to lead the Wolfpack.

At Ala Wai field

Pac-5 (2-7)	240	050	1	--	12	8	2
Damien (3-6)	422	004	1	--	13	10	3

Ross Yamato, Nick Miyamoto (4) and Aaron Chilcote. Duncan Ebert, Christian Stephenson (5), George Martin (7) and Kai Higa. W--Martin. L--Miyamoto.
Leading hitters--Pac: Kendall Tanigawa, 3-5, 2 3bs, 5 RBIs; Aaron Chilcote, 2-4, 2b, 3b, 4 RBIs. Dam: Scotty Taleasea, 3-4; Kaimana Balanon, 2-4, 2 RBIs.