The ILH baseball tournament isn’t a sprint, it’s
a marathon.

 

     That’s why it was so important to second-seeded
Iolani to jump out in front today in their game
against winless and 7th-seeded Pac-Five.  The
Raiders jumped out to an early 8-0 lead and then
after a mild scare, they went on to record a 15-5
victory in a game shortened to six innings.

 

     Iolani, which improved to 10-3 on the season,
will now play powerful Mid-Pacific on Wednesday
afternoon at the Ala Wai Field.  Mid-Pac defeated
St. Louis 3-1.  Pac-Five, meanwhile, falls into
losers bracket play in the double elimination
tournament that runs through next week.  Top-seeded
and undefeated Punahou had a bye Monday and will
play its first tournament game on Wednesday.

 

     In Monday’s game at the Ala Wai, Iolani
exploded for four runs in the second inning against
the Wolfpack.  Brennan Nacario, Reyn Nagamine, and
Grant Iwamoto spaced three singles around three
Pac-Five errors to help the Raiders to a 4-0 lead.

 

     In the Raider third, a double by Daniel Takami
and a single by Case Miyahara, plus three hit
batsman allowed Iolani to up its lead to 6-0. 
Pac-Five pitchers combined to hit five Raider
batters.

 

     In the fourth, Iolani upped its lead to 8-0. 
David Takami’s single, sandwiched between two
errors, allowed the Raiders to score twice more.

 

     But then, Pac-Five exploded against Iolani
winning pitcher Kelsey Outram.  Four singles, by
Zack Fujimoto, John Ray Rodrigues, Travis Ogimi, and
Kam Moises, plus a walk allowed the Wolfpack to
score five times.  The score going into the bottom
of the fifth inning had closed to 8-5 Raiders.

 

     In the bottom of the fifth, Grant Iwamoto
scored on a Kela Marciel sacrifice fly to up
Iolani’s lead to 9-5.  In the top of the sixth, Jon
Okada relieved Outram and pitched out of two-on, no
out jam.  Okada recorded the save for Iolani.

 

     Then, in the bottom of the sixth, the Raiders
exploded again to put the game away.  Singles by
Rylen Morihara, Nagamine, and Breland Almadova
helped push the lead to 12-5.  Marciel followed with
a bases-clearing double to plate three more runs and
Iolani had a 10-run victory.

 

     The game was called at that time due to the
10-run rule. 

 

     Punahou clinched the ILH regular season title
last week.  If the Buffanblue don’t win the ILH
tournament, then a one game playoff between the
tourney champion and Punahou will decide the ILH’s
lone berth in the state championship tournament. 
Punahou is the three-time defending state champion.

 

     No matter the records and the seedings, all ILH
teams have learned not to count on anything.  After
all, this is a marathon and anything can happen.