They’re not quite perfect, but the aura around Mid-Pacific baseball these days has more to do with clutch, comeback performance than anything else.
The top-ranked Owls scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth — all unearned — to rally past No. 5 Saint Louis 5-3 on Tuesday at MPI’s Damon Field. With two games left to play, MPI (9-1) sealed its second straight ILH regular-season title. The championship guarantees MPI a state-tournament berth.
“It means we get to go to Maui,” winning pitcher Daniel Fentriss said. “But right now, we’re focused on winning the ILH.”
Senior Bryce Asao sparked the rally with a two-out, opposite-field single off Pono Anderson in the fourth inning, scoring Marcus Doi and Fentriss.
An inning later, there were two outs with a runner on board when Anderson clipped Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Quintin-John Collier then followed with a line drive to short center. Jacob Gribbin raced in and stabbed his glove at the sinking shot.
“He made a catch like that on a line drive when we played Kamehameha,” Crusaders coach George Gusman said.
This time, however, the ball caromed free and got behind him, allowing Cal Muramaru and Kiner-Falefa to score, and MPI led for the first time, 4-3.
The next batter, Doi, tried to bunt on a 2-0 pitch. After coach Dunn Muramaru’s quick encouragement, the Owls’ No. 3 hitter in the lineup swung away and socked a line-drive single to left, scoring Collier from second base for a 5-3 lead.
Fentriss, making his second start of the season on the mound, finished strong. After surrendering three first-inning runs — Ka‘imi Umebayashi’s single scored Jordan Mopas, and ‘Iolana Akau and Gribbin scored on the ensuing throwing error by left fielder Cameron Igarashi — Fentriss gained momentum.
The 6-foot-4 senior finished with a four-hitter, striking out six with three walks. He retired 12 of the last 13 batters he faced.
“I was being too fine, trying to spot it too good,” Fentriss said of his 24-pitch first inning. “I felt more comfortable after we scored.”
Doi, the catcher, saw Fentriss settle in nicely. Fentriss mixed his fastball, slider and curve to go the distance, throwing 94 pitches.
“It took him awhile to get on his groove, but everything was working,” Doi said.
It was another come-from-behind win for the Owls, who trailed ‘Iolani 9-1 on Saturday before storming back for a 10-9 win.
“I was panicking,” coach Muramaru deadpanned. “But really, Daniel always has a hard time with Saint Louis in the first inning.”
The Crusaders missed opportunities even with the early three-run lead. They had a runner on third with one out in the first when Kawai Mook-Garcia misread a signal and laid down a squeeze bunt for an easy putout.
In the second frame, Jacob White — playing in place of starting left fielder Devon Stubblefield (school retreat) — walked and made it to third base, then got thrown out by Doi on a 7-2-5 double play.
He simply overdid the bluff, going halfway down the line after a short fly out by Mopas.
“That would’ve been 5-0,” Muramaru said of the visitors’ offensive mistakes. “But the good thing is our guys keep coming back.”
Gusman is now taking aim at a possible second-place finish before the ILH tournament.
“That second spot is important,” he said, noting that if MPI wins the tourney as well, the league’s other state berth will come down to the runners-up in the regular season and double-elimination tournament.
Anderson, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, allowed eight hits in six innings, permitting two earned runs. He struck out one, hit one batter and walked none.
“He’s our future,” Gusman said.
MPI and Saint Louis will meet again on Thursday. The Crusaders end regular-season play with a game against Punahou on Tuesday at Ala Wai.
Mid-Pacific will face Kamehameha at Hans L’Orange Field on Friday in its regular-season finale.
The prospect of a long ILH tournament doesn’t faze Muramaru.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who haven’t pitched a lot this year,” he said.
At Mid-Pacific
Saint Louis (5-5) 300 000 0 — 3 8 1
Mid-Pacific (9-1) 000 230 x — 5 8 1
Pono Anderson and Iolana Akau. Daniel Fentriss and Marcus Doi.
W—Fentriss. L—Anderson.
Leading hitters—Saint Louis: D.J. Dureg 2-3. MPI: Quintin-John Collier 2-3, run; Doi 2-3, RBI, run.
