Noah Shackles, Cameron Igarashi and Jarrett Lum drove in runs in a key four-run seventh inning as Mid-Pacific pulled away for a 7-3 win over Saint Louis for the ILH baseball championship.

With the win by postseason tournament winner Mid-Pacific (15-3-1) over regular-season winner Saint Louis (14-6), the Owls also secured a first-round bye in next week’s Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA State Baseball Championships. 

A crowd of about 150 watched at ‘Iolani’s field, filling up the bleachers behind home plate and along the third-base line. They saw the Owls capture their third ILH crown in a row. 

"I feel pretty good. Our guys hustled and they were patient," coach Dunn Muramaru said. "We got lucky. The ball bounced our way and the kids hung in there and hung in there." 

MPI got plenty from starting pitcher Chase Wago, who scattered six hits and allowed three runs over six innings. 

"Chase threw a great game," Muramaru said. 

Wago didn’t feel great about his arsenal, but had enough to keep the Crusaders just a bit off balance.

"I just had to work super hard. Saint Louis is a good team," said Wago, a left-handed sophomore. "My curveball was kind of on it, but then everything else, I had to work through it and stick with the game plan. Let them hit and see what happens." 

Shackles has caught a fairly young pitching staff all season long. 

"I’m not surprised. Chase just trusts his defense. The main thing is that we trust each other and we never lack confidence," he said. "This is a big win for us, to keep momentum going, and we don’t have to use as many arms in the (state) tournament." 

Owls leadoff hitter Bryce Nagata scored the go-ahead run in the seventh, and in the bottom of the inning, made a putout from right field on what would’ve been a single by Rayson Romero. 

"We worked so hard in the offseason. All these guys show 100 percent effort at practice. Everyone has a role on the team, and when everyone does their role, we end up winning," Nagata said. "Coach Dunn always stresses getting better because the competition always gets better. (Saint Louis ace) Jordan (Yamamoto) is a great pitcher. I have choke respect for him. It was a helluva game by Wago. He kept us in it." 

The Owls did their work offensively against Yamamoto, who gave up seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits over 6 1/3 innings. 

"It wasn’t my best outing," said Yamamoto, who struck out three and walked four. "We’ve got three more practices as high school players. We’ve got to make the best of it." 

Crusaders coach George Gusman hopes his team can recapture its midseason form. 

"Hopefully, that’s just an aberration," he said, referring to the seventh inning. "We kept walking the leadoff batter and creating pressure. We hit some balls hard right at guys. We get two strikes on a guy and he hits it off the handles. That’s baseball." 

With the score tied at 3 in the seventh, Nagata singled to center, Cal Muramaru walked and, with one out, Shackles singled to left, scoring Nagata for a 4-3 Owls lead. Igarashi then hit a grounder that got past the mound, took a funny hop and was corralled by Romero, the Crusaders’ shortstop. Muramaru scored. 

Pono Anderson replaced Yamamoto, who had thrown 120 pitches, and got Tyler Yamaguchi to send a ground ball to third, but Brendan Uchima double-clutched, turned to home plate and threw off the mark as courtesy runner Davin Takanishi scored MPI’s third run of the inning. Lum’s groundout to second scored Igarashi for a 7-3 Owls lead. 

Chase Wago, Jacob Maekawa (7) and Noah Shackles. Jordan Yamamoto, Pono Anderson (7) and Taylor Meilleur. W–Wago. L–Yamamoto. 

Leading hitters–MPI: Cal Muramaru 1-2, two walks, stolen base, 2 runs; Shackles 2-4, 2 RBIs, run; Jarrett Lum 2-4, RBI. Saint Louis: Rayson Romero 3-4, run; Jordan Mopas 3-4, double, run.