The Waipahu baseball team is one win away from an accomplishment 28 years in the making.

Milton Takenaka took over the program in 1984, and although the Marauders have won three OIA titles, including this season, they have never reached the state final. Until now.

The Marauders got a solid game on the mound from Drake Yoshioka and hitting throughout the order to beat Maryknoll 9-2 in a Division II semifinal game of the Wally Yonamine Foundation Hawaii State Baseball Championships at Les Murakami Stadium on Thursday.

"It’s the kids," Takenaka said. "That’s what we told them, this is what we worked for all season long. Hard work pays off. That is all this is about."

Not only is Waipahu in its first state championship game since 1981; the Marauders are in position to win a crown for the first time in the school’s history. They have been to the championship five times, but never closed it out.

But those teams didn’t have Yoshioka on their side. Yoshioka allowed only two runs on seven hits and kept the Spartans off balance all game. Maryknoll loaded the bases against him in the seventh, but otherwise never threatened him.

"He is a very poised young man," Maryknoll coach Kevin Uyehara said. "Close is not good enough, unfortunately. We were close but we didn’t do enough to get to him, he is a terrific pitcher and kudos to him."

What Takenaka was most pleased about is that Waipahu pounded out 12 hits and scored four runs each in two separate innings. He spent the regular season saying that his team could hit better than it showed. He got his proof in the OIA tournament, and it has carried through into states. Waipahu beat Konawaena 6-0 in the first round of this tournament and Kalaheo 5-1 in the OIA championship. Waipahu had three hits in the third and five hits in the sixth.

"They hit everything that we missed," Uyehara said. "They took advantage of every one of our mistakes. We wish them luck representing our island; there are not too many Oahu teams left."

After Pearl City lost to Waiakea in the Division I semifinals on Thursday, Waipahu is carrying the flag for an entire island. Matapua Tulafale had three hits and Yoshioka, Micah Luke and Dylan Sugimoto all paired hits for Waipahu, with Tulafale and Yoshioka each driving in two runs.

"Offensively we are finally starting to hit the ball," Takenaka said. "I feel like we might be hitting our stride."

Takenaka says Luke will get the ball today but that he has three others he can turn to if he needs to. Yoshioka says his veteran coach can count on one more.

"I might close, maybe, I don’t know," Yoshioka said. "But I am ready. They look like they are going to be a really big challenge, they put the ball in play and they are aggressive. We just have to make sure we do the same things we did today."