Saint Louis’ Chase Meilleur outlasted Kamehameha standout Hunter Breault in an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel at Hans L’Orange Field on Friday.
Meilleur tossed a complete game and catcher Kai Perreira-Alquiza singled home the go-ahead run in the sixth inning to lead the fourth-ranked Crusaders to a 2-1 victory over the sixth-ranked Warriors in the ILH opener for both teams.
Meilleur, whose brother Taylor graduated last season and is playing at Saint Mary’s (Calif.), struck out the side in the first inning. He also gave up a home run to Nakea Hanohano but shut out the Warriors over the next six innings to pick up the win.
“Preseason is a shadow of the regular season and I couldn’t wait for today to happen,” said Meilleur, who threw 91 pitches. “I was really proud of my team. That was my fault that the (Kamehameha) run scored and I was happy my team came back and scored in the sixth inning.”
Hanohano, who also tripled to lead off the fourth inning, smoked a 1-0 offering from Meilleur over the left-field fence with two outs in the first inning to put Kamehameha ahead 1-0.
Breault, the Oregon signee who touched 94 mph and was sitting at 92 for much of the game, according to a scout, allowed a leadoff single to Keith Torres in the bottom of the first.
He didn’t give up another hit until the bottom of the sixth inning, when DJ Stephens lifted a triple to left-center.
Matt Wong followed with a popup to shallow left that was dropped by the shortstop going back on the play — the only error in the game — allowing Stephens to score from third.
After a bunt moved Wong to second, Perreira-Alquiza squeezed a base hit up the middle to drive in Wong for the lead.
Breault, who struck out five and walked three, was taken out after giving up only his third hit.
“We haven’t thrown him a lot during the preseason,” Kamehameha coach Thomas Perkins said. “We were trying to check some of our younger guys and getting them to throw, but hopefully from here on out he’ll be a little better.”
Kamehameha had a chance to extend its 1-0 lead after Hanohano’s triple to start the fourth, but Meilleur got three straight fly balls to get out of the jam.
Eleven of Kamehameha’s last 12 outs at the plate came on fly balls.
“(Breault) was overpowering and is an elite pitcher,” Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. “We don’t have anybody elite like that, but we have a bunch of good pitchers and we just need to hang around.”
Meilleur allowed four hits and one walk with four strikeouts. He retired 12 of the last 13 he faced after Hanohano’s triple.
“I settled in by knowing what I can do and staying within myself,” Meilleur said. “The entire team stayed within themselves and that was great because I didn’t get very many strikeouts. It was all the team behind me getting pop flies and that’s pretty much how we stayed in it.”
At Hans L’Orange Field
Kamehameha (0-1) 100 000 0 — 1 4 1
Saint Louis (1-0) 000 002 x — 2 3 0
Hunter Breault, Jace Borja and Dylan Salcedo. Chase Meilleur and Kai Perreira-Alquiza. W—Meilleur. L—Breault.
Leading hitters—KS: Nakea Hanohano 2-3, 3b, HR, RBI; DJ Stephens 3b, run.
ILH DIVISION I BASEBALL
No. 7 Punahou 7,No. 2 Mid-Pacific 3
Jake Tsukada went 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs scored and an RBI and the Buffanblu jumped ahead with five runs in the first two innings to hold off the Owls.
Cole Cabrera scored runs in each of the first two innings for Punahou, which finished with nine hits.
Noah Laughlin and Asa Kurasaki had RBI singles in the first inning to build a 3-0 lead and Tsukada added an RBI single in the second to put Punahou ahead 4-1.
Punahou starter Kahi Bisho was pulled with two outs in the third inning for reliever Slater Pang, who allowed one run over the next 21⁄3 innings to earn the win.
Wyatt Young had two hits, two stolen bases and drove in a run to lead Mid-Pacific.
At Hans L’Orange Park
Mid-Pacific (0-1) 011 001 0 — 3 5 1
Punahou (1-0) 320 011 x — 7 9 1
Carter Rustad, Shion Matsushita (1), Jaydon Tomas (5), JT Navyac and Kyle Layugan. Kahi Bisho, Slater Pang (3), Andrew Matsueda (6) and Manny Nakamoto. W—Pang. L—Rustad. Leading hitters—MPI: Wyatt Young 2-4, 2 sb’s, RBI; Pun: Cole Cabrera 1-3, bb, 2 runs; Jake Tsukada 2-4, 3b, 2 runs, RBI; Colin Freeman 2-3, 3b, 3 runs, sb, RBI; Asa Kurasaki 2 RBIs; Kyson Donahue 2-3.
‘Iolani 4, Maryknoll 3, 10 inn.
At ‘Iolani
Maryknoll (0-1) 000 001 200 0 — 3 8 1
‘Iolani (1-0) 000 120 000 1 — 4 7 1
Matthew Dunaway, Shane Himeda (8) and Chayson Dulatre. Trevor Ichimura, Logan Yee (7) and Keene Tanaka. W—Yee. L—Himeda.
Leading hitters—Maryknoll: Tyler Quinn 2-3; Noah Kinder 2-4; Jonah Chinen 2 RBIs. ‘Iolani: Shane Sasaki 2-5; Shaydon Kubo 2 RBI.
ILH DIVISION II BASEBALL
St. Francis 12, Damien 4
At Central Oahu Regional Park
St. Francis (0-1) 220 062 0 — 12 10 1
Damien (1-0) 000 030 1 — 4 7 0
Zach Alcos, Kiyo Perry (5), Makana Poole (5), Jett Hakikawa (6), Bubba Akana (7) and Jared Yara. Javin Cortez, Casey Natividad (5), Kayson Kajiwara (6) and Kana Schuman, Chayne Wayton (6). W—Alcos. L—Cortez.
Leading hitters—St. Francis: B. Akana 2-4, 2 RBIs; Poole 2-3, 2 runs; Shawn Ellis 2-3, 2 RBIs. Damien: Kaimana Cameron 3-4.
Pac-Five 8, Hanalani 1
At Central Oahu Regional Park
Hanalani (0-1) 001 000 0 — 1 4 1
Pac-Five (1-0) 104 030 X — 8 8 2
Chad Wakabayashi, Nick Garcia Reid (4) and Seth Williams. Makoa Paresa, Brandon Miyasato (6), Blaise Wada (7) and Jared Miyasato. W—Paresa. L—Wakabayashi.
Leading hitters—Hanalani: Wakabayashi 2-3. Pac-Five: Richie Higa 2-4, 2 runs.
