For two innings, Leilehua looked like a team destined to mar Mililani’s unblemished record.

Eleven errors later, it wasn’t meant to be. Down five runs, the visiting Trojans scored 14 unanswered en route to a 15-8 win over the Mules at Howard Oda Field in Wahiawa.

Ninth-ranked Mililani improved to 7-0 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West. Leilehua (3-5), which matched Mililani with 11 hits, did little to support starting pitcher Lawrence Paas once the Mules took a 6-1 lead. The junior lefty induced a number of playable grounders that turned into miscues and extra outs for Mililani. Five of Mililani’s 15 runs were earned.

Thrust into a key role for the first time, sophomore Kanoa Hiraoka pitched 523 innings, allowing two runs and five hits for the win. He fanned four and walked three. After showing promise during the winter with the junior varsity team, Hiraoka became one of eight sophomores to make the varsity squad.

"I just tried to do what I’m supposed to do, throw strikes. My fastball, I threw mostly fastballs, hardly any sliders. I didn’t throw any change-ups at all," the 6-foot right-hander said.

With his three-quarter delivery, Hiraoka’s fastball tails in on right-handed batters and had Leilehua frozen for a stretch.

"I don’t know what my ball looks like, but I heard it tails and people can’t hit it," he said. "I feel good and I had fun."

The Trojans showed composure from start to finish.

"We were up 6-1, but you’ve got to give Mililani credit. Mililani came right back," Mules coach Lane Watanuki said. "Same thing on Wednesday. We jumped to a 4-0 lead. Mililani doesn’t press the panic button."

"I always tell our guys, try to win every inning," Trojans coach Mark Hirayama said. "Our pitching staff, I have a lot of confidence in all the guys, all the sophomores we brought up this year. I knew Kanoa was ready."

Hiraoka entered after starter Cody Mark pitched just one-third of an inning. Mark, coming off a long layoff because of a badly bruised leg, faced just six batters in his season debut. By then, Leilehua’s Kenan Sadanaga and Paas had drilled run-scoring doubles. After John Pratt-Baptista’s RBI single, Leilehua led 4-0 after just one frame.

Cyrus Ah Quin and Sadanaga each tripled, and Paas added a run-scoring single as the Mules opened a 6-1 lead after two innings.

Soon enough, Mililani benefited from two Mules errors to score five runs. Troy Kakugawa, another sophomore, advanced to third on a wild pitch and kept going. He scored when Paas, the pitcher, was slow to cover home plate and dropped the throw from catcher Ian Kaopua. That allowed Mililani to take a 7-6 lead in the top of the third.