‘Iolani went down fighting.
The Raiders baseball team started the season strong, but hit the skids and finished the regular season 4-11. They righted the ship enough to beat contenders Saint Louis and Kamehameha in the postseason and nearly upset top-ranked Mid-Pacific on Friday.
Instead, with one swing of the bat, the Owls’ Jacob Maekawa drilled a double to left field to score two runs in the bottom of the seventh for a 4-3 win, ending ‘Iolani’s season.
Prior to that, senior starting pitcher Everett Lau nearly kept ‘Iolani’s season alive at Mid-Pacific’s home field. He just couldn’t finish it off. After giving up a leadoff walk in the seventh, he was taken out with a 3-1 lead with one out and watched from the dugout as Ezra Heleski could only get one more out during the rally that led to Maekawa’s winning hit.
Interestingly, Heleski nearly got out of it on Hunter Hill‘s fielder’s choice. The Raiders got the force out at second, but Hill beat the throw to first by a step.
Kaimana Bartolome and Landen Moran smashed homers for the Raiders in the loss, building that 3-1 lead.
“Mid-Pacific keeps battling and never gives up,” ‘Iolani head coach Kurt Miyahira said after the game.
Bartolome, a senior who said he knew Moran’s homer was going out as soon as he hit it, put a postscript on the season: “We left it out on the field. I’m proud of every single one of my teammates.”
Left fielder Matt Inaba showed the spirit of the team when he dove and just missed Maekawa’s winner.
“(Maekawa) hit it hard and Matt Inaba laid out,” Miyahira said. “And guys that lay out like that are giving it their best shot.”
After the game Saturday, Miyahira said a group of about 10 seniors this season set the foundation for the future of ‘Iolani baseball, pointing the program in the right direction.
‘Iolani (6-13)…………..AB R H BI
Matt Campos, ss………..3 0 1 0
Everett Lau, p……………3 0 1 0
Ezra Heleski, p………….0 0 0 0
Landen Moran, 2b………3 2 2 1
Kaimana Bartolome, 1b..3 1 2 2
Zack Kon, dh…………….2 0 0 0
Cade Yonamine, rf………3 0 1 0
Jordan Hara, pr………….0 0 0 0
Reece Cayetano, rf……..0 0 0 0
Keene Tanaka, c………..2 0 0 0
Devin Ide, ph…………….1 0 0 0
Shane Suzuki, cf………..3 0 0 0
Shaydon Kubo, 3b………3 0 0 0
Matt Inaba, lf…………….0 0 0 0
…………………………..26 3 7 3
Mid-Pacific (14-4)…….AB R H BI
Jacob Maekawa ss, p….4 0 1 2
Alex Oley, cf…………….3 0 1 0
Chase Wago, dh……….3 0 0 0
Wyatt Young, lf…………0 0 0 0
Ryne Yamashiro, 1b…..3 0 0 0
Cameron Wong, lf……..2 0 0 0
Jared Fujiwara, lf, pr…..0 1 0 0
Kyle Layugan, c……….3 1 2 0
Trevin Tengan, 3b…….2 1 2 1
Zach Gushiken, 2b……2 0 0 0
Michael China, ph…….0 0 0 0
Hunter Hill, rf………….3 1 0 1
Ethan Fujikami, p……..0 0 0 0
Shane Adams, p………0 0 0 0
………………………….25 4 6 4
‘Iolani…………000 201 0 — 3 7 0
Mid-Pacific…..010 000 3 — 4 6 0
2B—Maekawa, Layugan, Tengan. HR—Moran, Bartolome. SAC—Kon, Tengan. SB—Hill. LOB—‘Iolani 4, Mid-Pacific 4.
Pitching
‘Iolani……………….IP..R..ER..H.BB..SO
Everett Lau………..6.1…2…2…4…1…4
Ezra Heleski, (L)….0.1…2…2…2…1…0
Mid Pacific………………IP…R..ER.H..BB..SO
Ethan Fujikami………….5.1…3…3…7…0…1
Shane Adams…………..0.2…0…0…0…0…0
Jacob Maekawa, (W)…….1…0…0…0…0…0
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