Jacob Maekawa was struggling so much at the plate during the season that he needed a new position.
Naturally, Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru turned him into a reliable reliever.
Maekawa shut down No. 1 Saint Louis over the final 31/3 innings and Cal Muramaru had two hits and scored two runs as the third-ranked Owls defeated the Crusaders 6-2 in an ILH tournament game on Tuesday afternoon at Goeas Field.
MPI (13-3-1) advanced to the tournament final on Thursday and will have two opportunities to secure its fifth consecutive berth in the state tournament.
Saint Louis (13-4), which clinched a state berth by winning the regular season, will play ‘Iolani in an elimination game on Wednesday at Central Oahu Regional Park.
"Today was unfortunate, but we’ve got a ticket to the state tournament and I’ve tried to tell (the players) that," Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. "I think there’s some pressure on us because we did win the regular season and I want our guys to play looser."
The two best teams in the ILH played for the fourth time with Mid-Pacific winning its third game against the Crusaders.
It was the Owls’ first win since Saint Louis beat Mid-Pacific 4-3 on April 15 to jump ahead of MPI for the regular-season crown.
"We definitely wanted to get revenge on them for the last time," Maekawa said. "We did that by playing our game."
Maekawa, who spent more than half of the season playing second base, was turned into a reliever after struggling with his bat.
He entered the game with two outs and two on in the fourth inning and got Saint Louis’ leadoff hitter, Rayson Romero, to ground out.
The Crusaders put two runners on with one out in the fifth before Maekawa got Jordan Yamamoto, an Arizona signee, and Devan Stubblefield, who signed with Hawaii, out on consecutive pitches.
"He came in and did the job," Dunn Muramaru said.
Maekawa allowed two hits with one strikeout and didn’t have a single three-ball count against any of the 12 batters he faced. He threw 26 of his 40 pitches for strikes.
"I just come in trying to throw strikes because that’s our strategy," Maekawa said. "I felt good in the bullpen."
| At Goeas Field |
| MPI (13-3-1) |
200 |
200 |
2 |
— |
6 |
8 |
1 |
| ST. Louis (13-4) |
100 |
100 |
0 |
— |
2 |
7 |
0 |
Noah Sills, Jacob Maekawa (4) and Noah Shackles. Pono Anderson, Dawson Yamaguchi (7) and Jordan Yamamoto. W–Sills. L–Anderson. S–Maekawa.
Leading hitters–MPI: Cal Muramaru 2-4, 2 runs; Nicholas Bottom 2b, RBI; Ryan Kiyotoki 2-2, run; Jarrett Lum 2b, RBI. StL: Jacob White 2b, run.
ILH DIVISION II
Maryknoll 8, Damien 0
Joshua Muneno pitched a complete game, striking out five as the Spartans shut out the Monarchs.
| At CORP |
| Damien (8-9) |
000 |
000 |
0 |
— |
0 |
5 |
2 |
| MRYK (14-3) |
022 |
202 |
x |
— |
8 |
7 |
3 |
Kaeo Castaneda, Grayson Bueno (4), D. Tapat (6) and Gavin Ariola. Joshua Muneno and Neal Nakasone.
W–Muneno. L–Castaneda.
Leading hitters–Dam: Castaneda 2-2. Mryk: Jedd Andrade 2b, run, 2 RBIs.
St. Francis 7, Pac-Five West 4
Ranan Mamiya went 3-for-3 with three RBIs for the Saints.
| At CORP |
| P5W (4-13) |
010 |
021 |
0 |
— |
4 |
6 |
1 |
| StF (8-9) |
001 |
051 |
x |
— |
7 |
12 |
1 |
Robert Baker, Aaron Leong (5) and Reyn Romero. Ian Phillips, Tyler Apuna (2), Laakea Moniz (6) and Jared Yara.
W–Apuna. L–Baker. S–Moniz.
Leading hitters–P5W: Dayne Ramos 3-3, 2 2bs, RBI; Kenan Cooper 2-2. StF: Sean Fernandez 3-4, 2b, RBI; Ranan Mamiya 3-3, 3 RBIs; Kreighton Tsuruda-Gaspar 3b, 2 RBIs; Janson Kupau 2-2, 2b, RBI.
