MPI, Punahou go at it again

Five state titles in a row - not a common occurrence.

Who will tell the Punahou baseball team that a sixth crown is a long shot? When the Buffanblu take the field against MId-Pacific tomorrow, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's third and final state tournament berth will be at stake. Seventh-ranked Punahou has matured and played some of its best baseball in the past month.

The Owls handled Punahou 6-1 and 15-3 in the regular season. Ranked sixth, Mid-Pac is 27-6-1.

The teams are evenly matched, on paper.

Athlete of the week

Boys

Derek Tan

» School: Mid-Pacific

» Sport: Baseball. He hit two homers and drove in five runs in a win over Damien

Honor roll

Baseball

» Kiel Odo, Kalani: drove in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the seventh against Kapolei

» Charles Ka'alekahi, Campbell: drove in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the 10th to beat Kaiser

» Jacob Meyer, Kamehameha: smacked a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to spark a 3-run, come-from behind rally in a win over MPI

» Tim Arakawa, Moanalua: hit a game-winning homer against Campbell

» Chace Numata, Pearl City: scored the winning run after tripling in the OIA title game.