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By: No way to explain it,
The win was the 12th straight for the
Buffanblue who finished the ILH regular season with a perfect 12-0 record. Iolani finished the regular season at 9-3.
Paul Snieder drew a bases-loaded walk to force
home Tyler Hanzawa from third base for the game-winning run. Punahou scored twice in the bottom of the 7th after Iolani rallied for two runs in the top of the 7th to take a 10-9 lead. Punahou’s 7th inning rally began with a one-out single to left by
The two-run rally by Punahou negated a
potentially great comeback by Iolani. The Raiders, who trailed by scores of 8-3 and 9-4, pulled to within one run in the sixth inning when sophomore pitcher Breland Almadova hit a three-run home run to straight-away centerfield. Almadova was just called up from the junior varsity in mid-season and appeared headed for the pitching victory when Iolani rallied for two more runs in the top of the 7th.
In the Raider 7th, Lionel Fujioka hit a bad-hop
triple to centerfield to get Iolani going. Darren Sonobe followed with a line-shot triple to the right centerfield gap to plate Fujioka with the tying run. Then, after a walk, Sonobe scored on a wild pitch to the backstop, just sliding under the tag of Punahou pitcher Reid Okita.
Okita was the winning pitcher in relief, while
Sean Takahashi took the loss. The game also featured a pitching stint by Iolani’s Robson Bunda, the son of former Senate President Bobby Bunda. The younger Bunda has come back from a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined for most of his senior season.
The two teams now advance to the ILH
post-season tournament. If Punahou wins that, then they will be the lone ILH representative in the state tournament. If another team besides the Buffanblue win the conference tourney, then a one-game playoff between Punahou and the tournament champion will determine that one bid.
Confused? Just consider it the wild ILH.
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