HONOLULU — Never underestimate the wonderful chaos of Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball.
In an ILH game seemingly in control by Kamehameha, host Iolani shifted the energy in the middle innings with some well-timed breaks, then went on to stun the Warriors, 6-5, with two runs on a walk-off, wild pitch strikeout in the bottom of the seventh inning on Tuesday afternoon.
“I mean, it’s just another day in the ILH,” Iolani coach Kurt Miyahira said. “It’s a wild league. It’s an honor, truly, to coach in this league and compete in this league. I have no other words.”
[Note: See below for more photos of the game.]
After Iolani (5-1) got its first two men on base in the final half-inning on an error and a walk, Ethan Akagi, who entered the game as a courtesy runner, hustled from second and dove headfirst into home as the winning run.
“Coach Kurt told me that I’m going to impact the game today, and at the start of the game, maybe I didn’t believe him,” Akagi said. “But when I was in that situation and I saw the (ball loose), I just knew that was my moment to impact the game for our team.”
It was the first setback of the season for defending state champion Kamehameha (3-1). That, combined with Mid-Pacific’s 4-1 defeat of previously unbeaten Saint Louis on Tuesday, meant that Iolani, Kamehameha, MPI and Saint Louis are tied in the loss column with one apiece atop the league standings.
Kamehameha led 5-0 after third inning highlighted by a two-run shot by star center fielder Jace Souza, who had the walk-off triple in last spring’s state championship win over Baldwin. Meanwhile, ace Greyson Osbun was dealing on the mound.
But the Raiders got two runners on via infield errors in the fourth, and they would come around to score, a harbinger of events to come. From that point on, Iolani seemingly drew out every at-bat and made every out a challenge.
“That’s what good teams do and they’re a good team,” said a frustrated Daryl Kitagawa of Kamehameha. “That’s what we need to do better. We’re not a good team at this point, so, I’ll just leave it as that. We gotta keep putting the (foot) to the pedal. We gotta keep going and for whatever reason we think we got enough – we don’t, we lose at the end. Hat’s off to Iolani.”
Iolani chased Osbun in the fifth and tacked on two more runs in the frame. Osbun struck out seven against two walks.
Miyahira credited starter Kasyn Amazaki (2 2/3 innings) and reliever Cade Nakama (3 1/3) for keeping the Raiders in it. Mana Lau Kong recorded the final out in the top of the seventh to pick up the win.
Lau Kong led off the bottom of the seventh and reached first on Kamehameha’s third infield error. He was lifted for pinch runner CJ Taira and when catcher Cole Yonamine subsequently drew a walk against Kamehameha reliever Logan Sanchez, Akagi entered as a courtesy runner.
Once Taira and Akagi reached third and second on a passed ball, Cole Ide was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Treyden Chong Kee was at-bat, batting right-handed, when Kaikai Kaneshiro’s 1-2 toss bounced in and caromed hard, 90 degrees to the right as Chong Kee waved at it and struck out. The ball settled against the side of the backstop near the visitors’ dugout and Taira immediately came in to tie the game at 5.
Catcher Bruce Boucher tried to run it down and fire it back to Kaneshiro at home, but it was a moment too late as an aggressive Akagi dove in behind the pitcher.
"I kind of zoned out (of everything else)," Akagi said. "I just saw the ball bounce and I took off. I’m a one-track-mind kind of guy."
Miyahira, who acts as Iolani’s third-base coach, didn’t wave Akagi around. He said he leaves it up to his players when the ball is in front of them and he could live with the result, be it out or safe.
“He is that guy, that sparkplug who will make something happen,” Miyahira said of Akagi. “He brings the energy that every team needs. … He’s a fearless kid who comes to work every day, and just gets after it.”
Kamehameha faces Mid-Pacific (4-1) at Ala Wai Field at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. Iolani hosts Pac-Five at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
