Chargers roll into final

EVER SINCE Pearl City baseball coach Mel Seki fell to Kaiser in the 1993 state tournament championship game in his first year at the helm, he failed to bring his Chargers back -- until now.

With an 11-4 victory over the Cougars in the semifinal round of the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Baseball State Championship tournament last night at Les Murakami Stadium, Seki's squad earned a coveted spot in tonight's state championship game against the winner of last night's late semifinal between Punahou and Kamehameha-Hawaii. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Murakami Stadium.

STATE BASEBALL All games at Les Murakami Stadium unless otherwise noted. Seeds: 1. Punahou. 2. Pearl City. 3. Waiakea. 4. St. Anthony. YESTERDAY Game 9: Mililani 4, Kailua 2 10: Kauai 5, Kalani 4 11: St. Anthony 1, Hilo 1 (tie) 12: Waiakea 10, KS-Maui 1 13: Pearl City 11, Kaiser 4 14: Punahou 14, KS-Hawaii 4 TODAY 15: Consolation championship--Mililani vs. Kauai, 11 a.m. 16: Fifth-place game--Hilo vs. Waiakea, 1:30 p.m. 17: Third-place game--Kaiser vs. KS-Hawaii, 4 p.m. 18: Championship game--Pearl City vs. Punahou, 7 p.m.

"One away, we've been saying, 'One at a time,' and now it's crunch time; one more to go," said Seki through a wide grin. "I don't want to jinx it, but it's been a great run and we have one more game for it to continue."

After running the table in last week's Oahu Interscholastic Association playoff tournament, Pearl City rattled off a convincing 10-0 win over Kamehameha-Maui on Thursday. The Chargers kept the offensive onslaught going, and jumped all over Kaiser starter Brent Takaki.

Pearl City (13-3) torched the junior for six runs in the first inning, chasing the hurler after he recorded just one out. Ryne Acosta drove in leadoff man Rorry Nakayama with an RBI triple, and Bryson Nakamura followed with an RBI ground-rule double that one-hopped the 385-foot sign in center field. After Kellen Ushijima walked and Carlton Tanabe reached when he struck out on a Takaki wild pitch that allowed Nakamura to race home, Jordon Casarez plated Ushijima with an infield single. To cap the six-run barrage, Chad Quillopo laced a triple to deep left-center field to plate courtesy runner Matthew Tanaid and Casarez.

"When Nakayama gets on base, it's a great start," Seki said. "The kids hit, and (Rorry) set the table. We've been saying, 'Let's get the job done,' and the last couple games, we've been doing that."

The Chargers increased their lead to 9-1 in the fourth frame thanks in part to a two-run single off the bat of designated hitter Jeffrey Domingo that capped the three-run outburst.

"That team is very fast and explosive; it's hard to hold them down," Kaiser coach Peter Ho said.

The Cougars didn't help matters by leaving the bases loaded in each of the first two innings.

"With a team like Pearl City, they're gonna bang the ball. They've been rolling and taking big leads early on, so if we would have jumped on them early and gotten them scared, you don't know how they will react," Ho said.

Kaiser battled back, though, with three runs in the ensuing inning to cut the deficit to 9-4 on Michael Ramia's sacrifice fly sandwiched between a pair of RBI singles by Devin Dela Pena and Jayme Kawashima. But the deficit was too much to overcome, and Pearl City added two insurance runs in the sixth inning to seal the deal.

Seki is confident that his team will come to play in tonight's title game.

"They came this far, and it's gonna be a battle," Seki said. "I'm pretty sure our team's going to battle regardless of the outcome," Seki said.

At Les Murakami Stadium

Kaiser	010	030	0	--	4	9	3
Pearl City	600	302	x	--	11	9	2

Brent Takaki, Pono Meyer (1), Landon Tamanaha and Bryce Marcouiller. Jason Rasa, Cory Yuh (5) and Carlton Tanabe. W--Rasa. L--Takaki.

Leading hitters--Kais: Marcouiller 2-3, run; Devin Dela Pena 2-4, RBI. PC: Rorry Nakayama 2-3, 2 runs, 3 stolen bases; Ryne Acosta 3b, RBI, 2 runs; Bryson Nakamura 2b, RBI; Duane Kiyota Jr. 3b, RBI; Chad Quillopo 3b, 3 RBIs.

CONSOLATION

Kauai 5, Kalani 4

At Kailua H.S. field

Kauai	003	020	0	--	5	8	3
Kalani	000	102	1	--	4	5	2

Trent Allianic, Andrew Renaud (6), Jordan Buster (7) and Anthony Calves, Lanan Rice-Kashima. Kenn Kamoto, Sean Nagaoka (5), Kiel Odo (7) and Jason Lee, Bryce Tomatani. W--Allianic. L--Kamoto.

Leading hitters--Kauai: Aaron Soong 1-2, HR, 3 RBIs; Kaylen Wakumoto 2-2, 2 runs; Jonathan Gebauer 2-3. Kaln: Dillon Matsuda 2b.Hilo 1, St. Anthony 1

At Les Murakami Stadium

Hilo	000	100	0	--	1	6	2
St. Anthony	000	001	0	--	1	3	1

Jeremy Crivello, Chad Uyetake (4), Kendal Ushijima (6) and Ryan Kurosawa. Patri Wilhelm-Ioane and Aaron Uehara.

Leading hitters--Hilo: Jarrin Shigemura 1-3, RBI. StA: Matthew McCraney 1-2, 3b, RBI.

Waiakea 10, Kamehameha-Maui 1

At Les Murakami Stadium

KS-Maui	000	100	0	--	1	3	2
Waiakea	104	500	x	--	10	8	0

Kyle Feiteira-Watanabe, Dayton Alexander (3), Naea Kalehuawehe (4) and Kamahele Chow. Eric Hernandez, Michael Kenui (5) and Rory Inouye. W--Hernandez. L--Feiteira-Watanabe.

Leading hitters--Waik: Thad Yasuhara 2-4, 3b, 2 runs, 2 RBIs.

Mililani 4, Kailua 2

At Kailua H.S. field

Kailua	001	000	1	--	2	2	2
Mililani	300	010	x	--	4	5	2

Preston Nakata and Raynor Yokoi. Dustin Antolin and Richie Mariano. W--Antolin. L--Nakata.

Leading hitters--Kail: Yokoi 2-3, 2b, run.