Saint Louis baseball mercy-rules Kamehameha for ILH regular season title

WAIPAHU, Hawaii — After nearly being no-hit by Kamehameha in the dark of Central Oahu Regional Park, the Saint Louis baseball team embraced a new philosophy for a new day: swing away.

The Crusaders put bat on ball repeatedly for 14 hits and used two big innings to defeat the Warriors, 12-2, in five innings in an afternoon contest at CORP on Tuesday to claim the Interscholastic League of Honolulu regular-season title and a state tournament berth.

“We told the kids, just be themselves and put the ball in play and do the best they can,” said first-year coach Benny Agbayani, the former major leaguer and ex-Iolani softball coach. “And you know, it’s just a great day for us, the Crusaders, because they came out and were ready to play.”

Kolby Gushiken was 3-for-4 with a triple and five RBIs. Sean Yamaguchi was 3-for-4, doubled and scored the game-ending run on a wild pitch. Leadoff hitter Tanner Chun drew three walks and scored three runs and right-hander Shannon Fee went the distance on a four-hitter with four strikeouts against two walks.

At the same stage of ILH play last season, Saint Louis lost out to Kamehameha for the state berth on the final day of the regular season, courtesy of some help from Damien. Kamehameha went on to win the overall ILH title and the state tournament.

“I can talk for all the seniors, we want it bad,” said Yamaguchi, the former Little League World Series star and University of Nevada commit who bore the team’s celebratory run chain around his neck. “Losing to this team, they’re a great team, a lot of talent. But if we come to the ballpark every single day and we want it just as bad as the other team, or even more, I think we’re going to play good Saint Louis baseball and we’re going to come ahead.”

Kamehameha ace Greyson Osbun came within a final out of a no-hitter in a 2-0 win on Thursday night. That resulted in a four-way playoff atop the league standings between Saint Louis, Kamehameha, Mid-Pacific and Iolani to determine the regular-season champion.

Kamehameha bested Iolani, 5-1, and Saint Louis edged MPI, 5-4, to set up Tuesday’s playoff for the first of three ILH state berths.

Tuesday’s lopsided result qualified as something of a surprise; it was the first time this season that Kamehameha (11-5) got mercy-ruled.

“The lights make a big difference, right?” Yamaguchi said. “Playing a night game against Greyson, it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be difficult for us hitters. But coming into this game against a big win against Mid-Pac, seeing Payton (Owls ace Dixon), and just being able to swing the bat yesterday, I think we transferred it over really good into this game.”

Knocking out capable Warriors starter Kaikai Kaneshiro after just two innings thrown was key, he said. The Crusaders dumped a series of hits into right field to get things moving for four runs in the second.

Kamehameha slugger Jace Souza knocked in his team’s only two runs in the top of the fifth to cut the Warriors’ deficit to 6-2, only for the Crusaders to come back with six runs in the bottom of the frame and end the game early.

“They put a couple good swings on, we made a couple mistakes,” Kamehameha coach Daryl Kitagawa said. “They scored when they had to, capitalized. I mean, they had some bleeders that fell through. But that’s what happens when you swing the bat, so hat’s off to them. We’ve got to be ready for Friday, the ILH tournament. That’s all we can do.”

The double-elimination ILH tournament will settle the league’s final two state berths. If a team besides Saint Louis wins the tournament, a playoff for the overall league title will follow.

Kamehameha opens against Pac-Five at CORP, Iolani hosts Maryknoll and Mid-Pacific hosts Punahou, all at 3:30 p.m. Saint Louis awaits the winner of Punahou and MPI for a 10 a.m. contest at Ala Wai Field on Saturday.

Shannon Fee went all five innings for Saint Louis, allowing four hits. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

First-year Saint Louis coach Benny Agbayani. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Saint Louis’ Kolby Gushiken slid safely into third base for a triple. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Sean Yamaguchi attempted to tag Kamehameha’s Jace Souza at second base. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Kamehameha’s Dillon Andres made contact on a swing. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Kamehameha’s Bruce Boucher tagged out Saint Louis’ Jadon Murakami at home plate. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.