The baseball game between Saint Louis and Punahou on Saturday followed pretty much the same script as their previous meeting, which meant a thrilling victory for the Crusaders and a deflating defeat for the Buffanblu.
Ezekiel Ribuca hit a game-winning sacrifice fly and Tanner Chun pitched two scoreless innings and drove in the tying run as No. 2 Saint Louis edged No. 3 Punahou 3-2 in an ILH contest at Ala Wai Field.
“For these guys to believe and work hard and all that good stuff, I’m just very, very happy,” said Saint Louis coach George Gusman. “This league is too crazy. Everybody’s good.”
Saint Louis improved to 6-1-1, while Punahou fell to 4-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, Chun’s one-out single to left on an 0-2 count scored Aiva Arquette, who led off the inning with a triple, and moved Ryder Okimoto to third.
“My coach told me to do the two-strike approach, so I just listened and followed what he says: put the ball in play and good things will happen,” said Chun, a sophomore.
Ryson Waalani was intentionally walked to load the bases and Ribuca followed with a first-pitch fly ball to center field, which scored Okimoto well ahead of the throw.
“The last at-bat, I was just going up there with a plan because my coaches they put their trust in me and I just want to say thank you to them, my teammates, for having my back right there and all glory to God at the end of the day,” said Ribuca, a junior.
Saint Louis starter Kahiau Schenk allowed six hits and two runs with four walks and eight strikeouts over five-plus innings.
Chun, who started in center field, relieved and didn’t allow a hit with two strikeouts. Chun retired the first two batters in the seventh, but hit Kila Kaniho with a pitch. He got Nolan Souza on a 3-1 putout to end it.
“My mind was straight on the batters and throwing strikes and helping my team out as best I can,” Chun said.
On March 11, the Crusaders scored two runs in the top of the seventh to beat the Buffanblu 7-6. Nuu Contrades picked up the win that day with two scoreless innings of relief.
“One game can be decided on one pitch and a season can be decided by one game, so one or two losses in the ILH is huge,” said Punahou coach Keenan Sue. “Those one, two losses can be determined by one pitch, so you can’t take a pitch off.”
On Saturday, Punahou’s Cade Terada-Herzer allowed six hits in six-plus innings with no walks and four strikeouts on 77 pitches. He left after allowing Arquette’s triple in the seventh and was replaced by Rustin Katsura.
“He’s primarily our closer, but today because of our personnel we thought we’d give him a chance on the bump. He did great,” Sue said.
Saint Louis took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI double by Xander Sielken.
Punahou tied it in the third on a run-scoring single by Kaniho, and took a 2-1 lead in the fifth on Joey Wilson’s RBI single.
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SATURDAY’S SCORES
ILH
Mid-Pacific 17, Pac-Five 1
W—Aaron Mills. L—Hunter Belmodis.
Leading hitters—MPI: Draven Nushida 2-3, 4 RBI; Karter Wong 3 runs; Chandler Murray run, 3 RBI; Chance Otsuka 2 runs; Coehn Nakasone 2-2, 2 runs, RBI; Coen Goeas 2-3, 3 runs, 3 RBI; Noah Kubo 2 RBI. P5: Caleb Kim 2-2.
Saint Louis 3, Punahou 2
W—Tanner Chun. L—Rustin Katsura.
Leading hitters—StL: Ryson Waalani 2-3.
Also:
Maryknoll 6, Damien 1
OIA EAST
Castle 12, Kalani 3
W—I Yoshiqumi. L—Taichi Fujinaga.
Leading hitters—Kaln: Jase Fujikawa 2-4, RBI. Cast: Jesse Reppuhn 2-4, run, 2 RBI; Wyatt Lizama 2-4, 2 RBI; Diesel Goya 2 runs, RBI; Zayden Uyemura 2 runs, 2 RBI; Kekai Adams 3-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI; K Pilanca 2 runs, 2 RBI.
Moanalua 16, Kailua 5
W—E. Kameoka. L—K. Kiaaina.
Leading hitters—Kail: K. Kiaaina 2-3, run; E. Shimaoka 2-3, run, RBI, HR. Moa: H. Jackson 2 runs; K Mashino 3-4, 4 runs, RBI; M Taga 2-3, 2 runs, 3 RBI; T Kimura 2-4, 2 runs, RBI; E Tome 3-4, run, RBI; E Kameoka 2-3, run, 2 RBI, HR.
Also:
Roosevelt 7, Kaiser 6
OIA WEST
Leilehua 7, Pearl City 6
OIA DIVISION II
Kahuku 23, McKinley 4
Nanakuli 8, Waianae 2
Waialua 13, Kalaheo 2
