After two home runs, a big rally and 18 base hits, it took a technicality to cool off the hot-hitting Kamehameha Warriors.

No. 3 ‘Iolani scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure a wild 12-11 victory over No. 4 Kamehameha on Thursday afternoon at Ala Wai Field 2.

The two teams now have one loss each in the ILH double-elimination softball tournament and will meet on Saturday morning at the same site for the tourney title. If Kamehameha wins that game, there will be one more matchup with regular-season winner ‘Iolani for the ILH championship.

Trailing 11-9 to start the bottom of the seventh, Hunter Acosta’s line drive was dropped by Kamehameha pitcher Jordyn Blackstad. She was replaced by Kiani Soller, who surrendered a single to left field by Lexi Muramoto.

Lehua Acoba then laid down a fine sacrifice bunt, which was scooped up, then dropped by first baseman Miquela Leopoldo. With the bases loaded thanks in part to the two errors, pinch hitter Peyton Willing lined an opposite-field single to right, scoring Acosta. The relay throw came in to Leopoldo, who then threw the ball off-target toward home plate.

Catcher Daylee Williams hustled after the ball quickly as the home plate umpire ruled the ball dead — because it had bounced through a walkway in the fence.

The third base umpire conferred with the home plate umpire, and they ruled that the ball had left the field of play. That allowed the runner on third base, Muramoto, and the runner on second, Acoba, to score the tying and winning runs.

Both benches were frozen for a few seconds while ‘Iolani coaches urged their baserunners to advance. It was a rare, bizarre way to end one of the best games of the season.

“I would love to see it just end on the field. We were putting ourselves in a bad position with a couple of errors and a couple of missed plays, but I would have loved to just see it end on the field and not on a technicality like that,” Kamehameha coach Mark Lyman said. “Both teams played more than well enough to win. It’s just a little disappointing that comes down to something like that.

The Warriors were stunned and silent as they departed. The Raiders were in shock as reality, and victory, set in.

“I had no idea they were going to get awarded runs after that,” ‘Iolani coach Chad Cordero said. “It’s a tough way to lose, but it was a good game. For us, we were kind of down and the good thing is our girls never give up. They have heart. They fight. They have each others’ back. That’s all we can ask for.”

Milla Fukuda’s three-run, inside-the-park homer in the sixth inning was a big part of ‘Iolani’s rally.

“You never know with those kinds of things, but our (right-field) fence is really far back,” said Fukuda, a left-handed hitter. “At practice, Coach Chad loves to emphasize to look when we’re halfway to second (base). I looked up at him and I knew I could go home.”

Natalie Ching, in relief of Molly Dyer and Caylee Hedani, pitched the seventh inning and earned the win.

Blackstad pitched six-plus innings, allowing 10 runs on eight hits with three strikeouts, three walks and one hit batter. Soller took the loss, taking the brunt for two of Kamehameha’s three errors in the seventh.

The home-field Raiders exploded with six runs in the bottom of the first inning. Hunter Salausa-Galletes was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Acosta followed with an RBI single. Muramoto socked a two-run double to left-center, and after Acoba and Madisyn Ueyama brought runs home on groundouts, it was 6-0.

Dyer went four innings and allowed eight runs on nine hits with one strikeout and four walks. It was her second time through the Warriors’ lineup that brought trouble. Williams belted an RBI double, and Marley Espiau added an RBI single. After Kezia Lucas’ sacrifice fly scored Espiau, Kamehameha was within 6-3 in the third frame.

While Blackstad settled in and retired 11 batters in a row, Kamehameha added another run in the top of the fourth on a solo blast to left by Jewels Hanawahine.

Then came a four-run torrent in the top of the fifth by the visitors. Espiau, who finished 4-for-5, delivered an RBI single, and Lucas (2-for-3) tripled to right-center, bringing home two more runs to give Kamehameha a 7-6 lead.

Hanawahine’s single to left brought Lucas home for a two-run cushion.

In the sixth, Kamehameha added two more runs. Espiau tripled to right with two outs, and Lucas unloaded on a towering homer to dead center for a 10-6 Warriors lead.

The Raiders battled back in the bottom of the sixth. With two runners on and two outs, Fukuda’s inside-the-park home run to right field brought ‘Iolani within 10-9.

Williams’ two-out single scored Nikki Chong in the top of the seventh to give the Warriors a two-run lead.

Kamehameha’s Navaeh Telles, who hammered four home runs in a recent win over Maryknoll, went 0-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored on Thursday.