WAIPAHU, Hawaii — It took eight pitchers, eight innings and 22 combined runs for Saint Louis and Iolani to reach a result in their Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball game on Thursday.
However, a third party decided the outcome: Darkness dictated a tie.
In a wild test of bullpens for both teams, the Crusaders and Raiders settled for an 11-11 split with one extra inning before going their separate ways in the twilight of Central Oahu Regional Park.
“Just a lot of emotions. We were in control of things, it got away really quick. And then it was game on,” said Crusaders coach George Gusman, referring to his team’s seven-run lead after two innings. “(Iolani) managed to tie it up, take the lead, and we managed to tie it up. It’s just crazy. But … this is ILH baseball.”
Perhaps fittingly for the strange game, a balk factored in. It was called on the Raiders’ fifth pitcher, Rylen Miyasaki, allowing the tying run to cross the plate in the bottom of the sixth, to the chagrin of Raiders coach Kurt Miyahira, who came out to discuss the call with the umpire. Miyasaki appeared to step off the mound just before starting his pitching motion.
Miyahira was not critical afterward; he credited his players for coming back against a good Saint Louis team.
“I’m proud of the kids. They kept battling. The score is the score, the calls are the calls, but our kids just kept battling,” he said.
Miyasaki got out of the inning without further damage and neither team managed to plate a run in the seventh and extra-inning eighth.
It was the first game of the second half of ILH play for both teams. Defending league champ Saint Louis (6-1-1) has again emerged as the team to beat, but Iolani (4-3-1), which lost 4-1 in the teams’ matchup March 14, showed that its lineup cannot be taken lightly in rallying from an early 8-1 deficit Thursday.
There were standout hitting performances on both sides. Mana Lau Kong went 4-for-5 with three doubles, two RBIs and three runs scored and Cadence Ueyama was 3-for-4 for Iolani, while Sean Yamaguchi was 3-for-5 with two triples and four RBIs for Saint Louis.
It was a season high in runs scored and allowed in ILH play for Saint Louis, and matched the most allowed by Iolani.
The Crusaders jumped on Raiders starter Tyler Young and reliever Nakoa Siu in the second inning, and by the end of the frame led by seven.
But Iolani went into full rally mode in the fifth and sixth, scoring nine runs across the two frames against starter Lincoln Pang, and relievers Kolby Gushiken and Tanner Chun.
Headed into the rapidly dimming eighth, Miyahira wasn’t sure if the game would go beyond that frame but said it was important to play straight up, with no stall tactics.
Gusman, for his part, lamented that he might have left the left-handed Pang in too long against an experienced Iolani lineup that returned all but one starter from a state tournament team.
Saint Louis plays Mid-Pacific at CORP at 9 a.m. Saturday while Iolani faces Kamehameha at 1 p.m. at Ala Wai Field.
“We’ll regroup. You gotta regroup because things turn around very quick,” Gusman said. “We’ve got Mid-Pac on Saturday so we can’t feel sorry for ourselves."
Miyahira was asked if the unusual outcome was a byproduct of teams seeing each other for the second time in the season.
“I don’t know, these are fun, though. I think it’s what we signed up for,” Miyahira said. “I think every game’s a tough game. First round, playoffs, it doesn’t matter. These games are all a privilege to be a part of. We’ll see what happens Saturday.”
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.