Mid-Pacific rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning for a 7-6 win over Saint Louis on Thursday afternoon to stay alive in the ILH round-two, double-elimination tournament .
Max Taniguchi’s single scored Caleb Nakamoto from second base with the go-ahead run to cap the big rally. Taniguchi went after the first pitch from Saint Louis reliever Trycen Kaimiola.
“I was looking for a curveball outside. I was waiting for it,” Taniguchi said of the opposite-field line drive, which was nearly snagged by first baseman Jonah Brub.
Luke Takakuwa-Holtey, who started on Tuesday against ‘Iolani and lasted less than two innings, bounced back with a clutch performance on Thursday. The senior southpaw was the fourth MPI pitcher and went four innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits with four strikeouts, four walks and one hit batter.
“At most, I was 230 pounds (last year). I’m 180 right now. For me, my whole life, I’ve played baseball. It’s my competitive passion,” Takakuwa-Holtey said.
His fastball improved from 84 mph to 90 mph. He listens more closely to his coaches. He has developed more grit.
“Everything got a little bit easier. I feel a little bit faster. I did a lot of agility work to try and get as good as I can,” Takakuwa-Holtey said.
Like Saint Louis starter Kekai Perreira, he battled every batter for the inside corner. He will sleep well. After a rough performance against ‘Iolani, he didn’t get to bed until 1 a.m. — instead of his normal 10 p.m. lights out.
“It’s definitely a little bit of redemption. I didn’t have my best stuff on Tuesday and everybody picked me up,” Takakuwa-Holtey said.
The Owls, seeded third, advanced and will meet sixth-seeded ‘Iolani (again) today at MPI’s Damon Field. MPI (15-6-2 overall) is now 2-1 in the tournament. ‘Iolani (6-9-1 overall) is 1-1 in the tournament and will have the benefit of a day off .
“The kids come in on Sundays. They work on stuff. It’s all them,” Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru said. “They changed the way the program is. I didn’t expect us to come back, but they did. It’s really nice. Yesterday’s game (against Pac-Five), (Colten) Amai Nakagawa really shut us down. The kids never gave up and that’s all you can ask. Pac-Five is the same way. They always play hard.”
A relatively young Saint Louis squad closed the season 12-10 overall. The defending state champion Crusaders opened the tournament with a 3-2 win over Punahou, then lost to top-seeded Kamehameha 5-2 on Wednesday.
“It’s life. Not everything is going to be perfect,” said the Crusaders’ Kahanu Martinez, who signed with Oregon. “It’s how you look at it. It was a fun season. High school is fun, but it’s going to end. I tried to learn from the things I did wrong, and try and get better. I’m not too worried about the next step. I just want to keep working and see where it takes me.”
Saint Louis coach Benny Agbayani was on a trip to watch his daughter, Ailana, play second base for No. 1 Oklahoma against No. 11 Georgia this weekend.
Last year, surviving teams were reseeded, but that step was deleted this year. Instead of Saint Louis and ‘Iolani playing, Mid-Pacific was in the fray.
For the Owls, it has been a week of consternation. MPI (4-1-2, .714) finished in a second-place tie in the regular season (round one) with Pac-Five (5-2, .714). Over the weekend, the date for the second-place tiebreaker was listed for Monday on the ILH website. However, by Sunday afternoon, the tiebreaker was removed and Pac-Five was suddenly declared the second seed.
MPI coach Dunn Muramaru and his administration asked for an explanation and got none. Attempts by the Star-Advertiser to reach ILH officials were unsuccessful.
While Pac-Five and Kamehameha drew first-round byes, the Owls began tournament play with a 6-3 comeback win over ‘Iolani on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they faced Pac-Five and were stifled by Amai Nakagawa, 4-1.
On Thursday, Perreira was superb, finishing with one earned run on four hits with two strikeouts and no walks over 5 1-3 innings. However, four Crusaders errors led to six unearned runs.
For most of a sunny afternoon in Manoa, the visiting Crusaders seemed to be the team of destiny. They bolted ahead with two runs in the top of the first inning against Owls starting pitcher Sione Simpson. Aycen Fernandez led off and was hit by the first pitch of the game. Two pitches later, Martinez launched a towering two-run homer over right center.