The first battle between the schools is ready to go, first pitch at 10 a.m. at Mid-Pacific. Strong wind swirling around, bringing a light mist with it once in a while.
Punahou 100 030 x — 4 6 1
Mid-Pacific 003 045 x — 12 11 0
Top seventh: Mason Asato to hit, he grounds out to second. Drew Ogomori pinch hits, singles to center. Nate Miyashiro pinch hitting. He strikes out looking. Justin Matias hitting. He flies out to third to end it.
Bottom sixth: Lefty Kekoa Viera on to pitch for Punahou. If the Buffanblu can get out of this inning they have 9-1-2 coming up in the seventh. Igarashi walks on five pitches, not quite what you want to do. Chase Wago tries to bunt him to second, but the Buffanblu get the lead runner. Yamaguchi walks on five pithes. Lum takes a pitch off the shoulder, bases loaded with one out and that is it for Viera. JOsh Winkler in to pitch for Punahou. Winkler called for a balk to bring in another run. Harrison argues, but it was pretty obvious. Jacob Maekawa hit by a pitch, bases loaded again. Nagata grounds into fielder’s choice at home, third baseman thought about trying for the double play but played it safe. Muramaru singles to right to bring in another run. Bottom plates two more with a single to left and Shackles follows with a single to deep short to bring in another one. That does it for Winkler, Michael Viola in to pitch. He gets Igarashi to pop out to first and end the madness. MPI 12, Punahou 4.
Top sixth: Coolen grounds out to second. Maxen Chung on to hit and walks on six pitches. Chung steals second. Goss lines out to short for the second out. Dong grounds out to second.
Bottom fifth: Chase Wago hitting for Kiyotaki, grounds out to short. Tyler Yamaguchi doubles off the fence in left. Jarrett Lum his a no-doubt home run onto the road in centerfield, MPI 5, Pun 4. Jacob Maekawa at the dish, grounds out to short. Nagata singles to left. Cal Muramaru triples to left field to drive in Nagata, Punahou left fielder Noah Goss had a shot at it but missed it on the dive and it rolled all the way to the fence. Bottom drops a wounded duck into right field to drive in Muramaru. MPI 7-4. Shackles grounds out to third.
Top fifth: Goss grounds out to second. Dong grounds out to second, Kimura ranged behind the bag for that one. Cole Cabrera doubles down the line in left. Pitcher throws it into centerfield on a pickoff attempt, Cabrera to third. Branton bashes a single to left to drive him in, MPI 3, Pun 2. Noah Sills in to pitch for Mid-Pac. Aaron Fong doubles off the fence in left-center to score Branton from first. Big 2-out rally. Sills called for a balk, runner to third. KJ Harrison works a 3-1 count and then blasts a double off the fence almost excatly where Branton’s ball went. Punahou leads 4-3. That is it for Sills, Muramaru waves Seth Kinel in to pitch. Cole Kanazawa grounds out to short to end the rally.
Bottom fourth: Jacob Kam in to pitch for Punahou, gets a quick out on a grounder to first by Muramaru. Bottom follows with a single to right. Bottom caught stealing. Shackles walks on five pitches. Igarashi flies out to left.
Top fourth: Harrison strikes out swinging, Kanazawa flies out to right on a diving catch by Nagata. Coolen walks on eight pitches. Easton Takamoto to hit for Stratton. He grounds into a fielder’s choice, 5-4.
Bottom third: Muramaru strikes out swinging. Bottom walks on four pitches, Kenny Harrison visits the mound. Bottom steals second on a 2-2 pitch, then Shackles moves him to third on a grounder to second. Cameron Igarashi hits a long fly ball that sneaks over the fence in center field for a home run. Owls 2, Buffanblu 1. Kiyotoki reaches on a throwing error by the third baseman. Yamaguchi dumps a single into right field, runners on the corners and Harrison makes another visit. Coolen done for the day after 60 pitches, lefty Dylan Combs comes in to pitch. The runner is picked off first but takes second. Muramaru was screaming for a balk. Lum runs the count to 3-0 and walks on the fourth pitch to load the bases. Kimura works the count full. He walks on a low and inside pitch, Owls 3, Buffanblu 1. Nagata flies out to center.
Top third: Allan Dong drops a single into center. Dong caught stealing on a delay. Cole Cabrera walks on four pitches after a visit from Muramaru. The coach is out there again and takes the ball away. Righty Grant Doi is the new pitcher. Branton bunts the runner to second. Doi strikes out Fong.
Bottom second: Tyler Yamaguchi grounds out to Coolen on a full count. Jarrett Lum walks on five pitches. Matt Kimura grounds into a fielder’s choice, short to second. Coolen strikes out Nagata on a checked swing to get out of the inning, he is already up to 40 pitches.
Top second: Bo Coolen flies out to left. Stratton grounds out to short. Noah Goss flies out to right. Zalewski needs only nine pitches to sit them down this time.
Bottom first: Bryce Nagata doubles off the top of the fence in center, above the 333 sign. Cal Muramaru walks on four pitches. Nicholas Bottom grounds into a fielder’s choice at third, fine play by Cole Kanazawa. Runners on first and second with one out. Noah Shackles grounds into the fielders choice, short to second. runners on the corners with two outs. Coolen chases the runner back to first three times. Cameron Igarashi walks on five pitches to load the bases. Coolen starts Ryan Kiyotoki 0-2. Working away, evens it at 2-2. Away again, 3-2. Coolen strikes him out on a nice pitch on the outside corner. Kiyotoki committed but was too late.
Top first: Beau Branton leads off with a long home run to straight away center field. Aaron Fong flies out deep to right, the wind helped that one. KJ Harrison strikes out swinging. Cole Kanazawa flies out to right, Punahou 1, Mid-Pacific coming to bat.
Connor Zalewski on the mound for the Owls, he will be opposed by Punahou’s Bo Coolen. Zalewski, a righty, is warming up right now.
Thanks for the play-by-play, Jerry!