Young relief pitchers help ‘Iolani hold off Punahou

Protecting a tenuous lead, ‘Iolani baseball coach Brent Shimokawa twice gave the ball to sophomores.

The youngsters escaped tense situations to preserve the lead and help the Raiders pull out a 4-2 win over Punahou on Friday night at Hans L’Orange Park.

Opportunities abounded for both teams, and ‘Iolani cashed in on a couple more than the Buffanblu to improve to 4-7.

The win kept ‘Iolani in contention for third place in the ILH regular-season standings, which would keep the Raiders out of a play-in game to qualify for the double-elimination tournament. ‘Iolani closes the regular season Tuesday against Kamehameha.

Austin Darmawan’s two-run double in the fourth inning gave the Raiders the lead, and sophomore relievers Bronson Ichimura and Corey Nakakura both escaped bases-loaded situations as ‘Iolani prevailed despite giving up 11 walks

"I’m artificially aging them quickly," Shimokawa said. "I think we have a lot of faith in the kids. Through character building they’re learning to battle, they’re learning to make quality pitches and find a way to succeed. I think these experiences are going to make them better individuals and baseball players.

"They’re sophomores and we’re asking them to contribute in a large manner. It’s not as if we have time to bring them along. We’re throwing them in a big game and expecting them to succeed."

Punahou starter Dylan Combs stranded five ‘Iolani runners in the first two innings, and the Buffanblu opened the scoring in the bottom of the second when Reece Kato scored on a wild pitch with two out in the inning.

‘Iolani catcher JR Matsuura was hit to open the top of the fourth, and courtesy runner Chad Hanaoka was sacrificed to second. After a strikeout, Kainoa Fong faced a 1-2 count before working a walk to extend the inning. Darmawan then lined a shot into the left-field corner for a two-run double, giving the Raiders the lead.

Punahou loaded the bases on three walks in the bottom of the inning, but Ichimura got a strikeout to end the threat.

‘Iolani kept the momentum rolling in the fifth when Tanner Nishioka chopped a single into left field, then stole second and third on the next two pitches. Nishioka then scored on Christian Donohue’s sacrifice fly to center to give the Raiders a 3-1 edge.

Punahou’s first two batters of the fifth walked, and Cole Kanazawa’s line-drive single to right cut ‘Iolani’s lead to 3-2. Another walk loaded the bases, and the Buffanblu attempted a squeeze. But the bunt was missed and Beau Branton was tagged out in the rundown.

Punahou loaded the bases again, but Ichimura, who had moved to first base, snared a line drive to preserve the Raiders’ lead.

Nakakura, who relieved Ichimura in the fifth, gave himself some breathing room with a bases-loaded single in the top of the seventh. Nakakura retired Punahou in order in the sixth and seventh to close out the win.