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In an ILH baseball race with great parity, one thing appears clear: Mid-Pacific has ‘Iolani figured out.
Nathaniel Wagner homered twice and drove in five runs and Reyn Kapua pitched a two-hitter as No. 5 Mid-Pacific beat No. 1 ’Iolani 18-1 in five innings Saturday.
The host Owls scored three in the first inning, six in the second and nine in the third. The 18 runs are the most scored by an ILH team this season.
“They’ve been hot and we knew we needed to come out and do something, and I think we proved to everyone that we can compete with the best out here,” Wagner said.
Mid-Pacific (8-4) jumped over ‘Iolani (7-4-1) for third in the ILH. Kamehameha (9-3) is first and Saint Louis (8-3-1) is second. On March 18, Mid-Pacific beat ‘Iolani 9-2.
Kapua walked two and struck out one to help snap the Raiders’ three-game winning streak.
“Reyn pitched a helluva game. Whenever you can shut down ‘Iolani that’s a great game,” Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru said.
The Raiders scored in the first when Travis Ujimori led off with a double, moved to third on a ground out by Bruin Agbayani and scored on Mana Lau Kong’s ground out, which was booted by the shortstop.
The Owls scored in the bottom half on Chandler Murray’s homer to left and Wagner’s two-run blast to center.
Mid-Pacific sent 11 batters to the plate in the six-run second, with all the runs scoring with two outs. The Owls hit for the cycle in the inning with Christopher Cannon leading off with a single, Jake Comeaux hitting an RBI double, Noah Kubo getting a two-run triple and Wagner belting a three-run homer to center.
“I’ve been working hard on my swing this week and I think I finally figured some stuff out and it’s good to see it finally pay off,” said Wagner, who added he made technical adjustments with with hands.
The first nine batters scored in the Owls’ huge third inning with the damage coming against four Raider pitchers. Brayson Sarae had a two-run single, Murray and Coehn Nakasone had RBI singles, Comeaux drew a bases-loaded walk, Coen Goeas, Elias Heshiki and Kubo were hit by pitches with the bases loaded and Murray scored on a wild pitch.
Mid-Pacific had 12 hits, and drew six walks and six hit by pitches.
“You know they can come back,” Muramaru said of the Raiders. “They were down 8-1 to Saint Louis and came all the way back to tie it (on March 23). That was not going to happen. We told them make sure you take care (of things).”
Kapua, who said his change-up and slider were effective, retired the final eight batters he faced.
“Once we got all those runs I felt like I was being backed up by my teammates, so all I needed to do was throw strikes,” he said.
It was a nice bounce-back win for Mid-Pacific, which had its six-game winning streak snapped Thursday by Kamehameha.
“We talked about being a team and helping out each other,” said Muramaru about coming off the loss. “Be appreciative of the guys who don’t play, (and those) catching (bull)pen and throwing batting practice.”
‘Iolani coach Kurt Miyahira politely declined comment after Saturday’s game.
At Mid-Pacific
Mid-Pacific 18, ‘Iolani 1, 5 inn.
W—Reyn Kapua. L—Izack Takazawa.
Leading hitters—MPI: Jake Comeaux 2b, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Chandler Murray 2-3, HR, 3 runs, 2 RBIs; Noah Kubo 2-2, 3b, 3 RBIs; Matthew Kurata 2 runs;
Coen Goeas 3 runs; Nathaniel Wagner 2-2, 2 HRs, 2 runs, 5 RBIs; Brayson Sarae 2-3, 2 RBIs; Christopher Cannon 2-2, 2 runs. Iol: Travis Ujimori 2b.
Saint Louis 9, Pac-Five 1
W—Kolby Gushiken. L—Colten Amai-Nakagawa.
Leading hitters—StL: Ryder Okimoto 2-3, run; Kolby Gushiken 2-4, 4 RBI; Chance Kuhlmann 3-3, run; Micah Werts 2 RBI. P5: Ezra Lee 2-4; Caleb Lee 2-4.
No. 3 Kamehameha 7, Maryknoll 0
W—Alaka’i Kiakona. L—Cade Hedani.
Leading hitters—KS: Elijah Ickes 3-4, 3 runs, RBI; Jace Souza 2-3, run, RBI; Dane Palimo’o 1-3, 2 RBIs. MS: Luke Swartman 2-3.
Punahou 5, Damien 1
W—Jasen Yuen. L—Jamieson Pabalan.
Leading hitters—Pun: Jake Hiromoto 23, run, 3 RBI; Javin Hamura 2 runs. DMS: Francis O’Connor 2-3.
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