Iron Maehara Stadium, Maui vs. Baldwin for the state baseball championship, would’ve been nice.

Baldwin’s 3-2 win over defending state champion Kamehameha in the semifinals on Friday will make it an all-Maui Interscholastic League final today at Moanalua.

Jayden Perry-Waikiki, only a freshman, put out the fire in the sixth inning and went 1-2-3 in the seventh for the save, preserving the win for sophomore starting pitcher Kaden Anderson.

“I feel good. I’m happy we’re in the championship game. We’ll show up wherever they want us to show up,” Baldwin coach Craig Okita said. “Perry’s been the dog all year round. Anderson came up big.”

The loss of a key pitcher, senior Kadon Antolin, to an arm injury opened an opportunity for Anderson, who didn’t pitch a lot during the regular season.

Baldwin (15-3), the MIL runner-up, will battle league champion Maui for the state crown at Moanalua’s synthetic-turf field. The Division I title game will begin after the completion of the D-II final between Damien and Kamehameha-Hawaii, which starts at 10 a.m.

When Okita called his number, Perry-Waikiki walked in a straight line from the bullpen to the mound, all business.

“I wanted this game for a very long time. I told Coach Craig, give me the ball and I’ll be ready. I had a mentality going into the game and I just had to finish for the team,” he said. “My fastball, my slider and my changeup were working. It’s the mentality I had since I was younger. It just kind of grew on me. I’m not afraid to face anybody. I’m not afraid to throw that fastball. I want them to hit and let my team have fun.”

Kamehameha, the ILH champion, completed its season 17-6.

“That’s baseball. We made some mistakes. They capitalized on them. It hurts a lot, but we’re going to learn from it, get better from it and hopefully we’re in this same position next year,” Kamehameha coach Daryl Kitagawa said. “Baldwin deserved to win. We’re super happy for our team, where we came from, and we lost to a good team tonight. They were the better team tonight for sure.”

Kamehameha’s staff is almost as young across the board as Baldwin’s. In recent years, Baldwin won state titles in 2016, under Jon Viela, and in ’18, under Shane Dudoit. The Bears won the inaugural season of HHSAA baseball in 1959 and again in ’60 under Tamotsu Omoto. Baldwin won again in ’84 under Melvin Nakama and again in ’95 under Kahai Shishido.

After days of inclement weather, weather was not a factor.

Kamehameha had a prime opportunity when Dillon Andres and Matt Zarriello singled to begin the top of the fourth inning. Bruce Boucher then bunted into a 5-6-3 double play, and Greyson Osbun popped out to end the threat.

Through four innings, Anderson, a southpaw, was excellent, with six strikeouts and five hits scattered. Osbun was just as effective, with two hits permitted and nine strikeouts without issuing a walk. Just as the Kamehameha ace appeared to be untouchable, the Bears clutched up. He issued his first walk in the bottom of the fifth to Isaac Imamura.

After a sacrifice bunt by Laakea Ko, Jevan Raboy singled to give Baldwin runners at the corners. The ninth hitter in the lineup, Marley Sebastian, then bunted to Osbun, who tried to swipe at the ball with his glove to make a throw home, but he missed and the ball rolled to the mound.

Isaac Imamura scored the game’s first run on the play. After Isaiah Chaves grounded out, Christian Dominno delivered a two-out single to center, scoring Raboy and Sebastian for a 3-0 Baldwin lead.

The top of the fifth brought some anxiety to the Bears when Anderson walked Nalu Grace, then had a 3-1 count on Jace Souza. After a visit to the mound by Baldwin’s coach, Anderson walked Souza.

The sophomore then plunked Andres to load the bases with no outs. He was replaced by junior Kip Watanabe.

Matt Zarriello’s sacrifice fly to center scored Grace from third base, but even with the Baldwin bench yelling to throw to third base, the throw went home — late — from center fielder Dominno. Souza, dancing off third base, was thrown out by Baldwin catcher Chaves for the second out.

Osbun’s single to left scored Andres, bringing the Warriors within 3-2, triggering Baldwin’s next pitching change. Perry-Waikiki entered the game. He was 4-0 with a 1.06 ERA, 29 strikeouts and just three walks in 33 innings pitched.

Kaleb Flores drove a Perry-Waikiki fastball deep into the right-center alley, but Sebastian sped after the ball and hauled it in for the third out.

Perry-Waikiki then retired Kamehameha 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh inning to seal the Bears’ win.

Prior to Saturday’s games, the HHSAA juggled sites and options for both baseball and softball. In baseball, the possibility of an all-MIL state final was measured, weighed and discussed. With Les Murakami Stadium unavailable today due to a high school graduation ceremony, a potential site was Iron Maehara Stadium for a Baldwin-Maui championship game.

That was quickly ruled out by the MIL due to several factors.

>> Baldwin graduation ceremony on Sunday

>> Busy scheduling for schools Tuesday through Thursday

>> Lack of time to get permits for Iron Maehara

Yet, playing a title game on Monday or even Friday was difficult, but not impossible.

Maui coach Chase Corniel said he would’ve liked a championship game at Iron Maehara. Once the decision was made before the Division I semifinals, it was written in stone. The HHSAA set the D-I and D-II finals for Moanalua today, and that was it.

“If Baldwin wins, I’d rather play on Maui with all our family and friends there to support us,” Maui infielder Nicholas Nashiwa said. “I think the whole team would want to play on Maui.”

As it turns out, Baldwin won and the final will be at Moanalua. The bad news for fans on the Valley Isle: The game will not be televised.

“I’ll be doing the P.A. (public announcing),” play-by-play man Felipe Ojastro said.