St. Louis' Devan Stubblefield crosses home plate to score a run for the Crusaders. Evan Asato | SL

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Punahou's Beau Branton jumps up to field a ball against St. Louis. Evan Asato | SL

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St. Louis' Dawson Yamaguchi throws a pitch to the plate against Punahou. Evan Asato | SL

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WAIPIO – Despite limited game experience, Saint Louis’ pitching unit came through when all is said and done.

The Crusaders, ranked No. 2 in the ScoringLive/OC16 Baseball Power Rankings, used an early 6-1 lead to hold off Punahou, 6-5, at the Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park Friday afternoon. This was the second game of a back-to-back-to-back situation for the Crusaders.

With Saint Louis ace Jordan Yamamoto going the distance against No. 5 Kamehameha the day before, the Crusaders went deep into their pitching rotation. Sharing the duties on the mound for the Crusaders were Dawson Yamaguchi, Jacob White and Peyton Oshiro. Despite having pitched for a combined 6.7 innings prior to the contest, the three-man pitching unit got the job done.

“With three games in a row, it was going to be a test for the rest of our pitchers,” said Saint Louis coach George Gusman. “We’ve used guys during the preseason, but, up until now, we haven’t had an opportunity to get the other guys in. Once you get into the regular season, there’s no experimenting. It’s just so difficult trying to get guys in. As tough as it was, my guys came through. That’s what counts at the end of the day.”

With the win Saint Louis improves their record to 8-2 in Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I play, setting up a pivotal game against third-ranked Mid-Pacific (8-2-1) the following day. Punahou was handed their second straight loss, falling to 2-7-1 on the year.

The Crusaders’ victory overshadowed an incredible game from Buffanblu shortstop Beau Branton who went 4 for 4 at the plate with three doubles and four runs batted in. Branton was also key defensively, making several routine 6-3 outs to limit Saint Louis’ scoring.

Punahou took an early 1-0 lead on a Noah Goss sacrificial that drove in KJ Harrison. This was set up by Branton’s double down the left foul line, which advanced Harrison from first to third.

The Buffanblu’s lead would be short lived with the Crusaders scoring two in the top of the second. Jordan Mopas, who went 2 for 4 on the day, drove in Devan Stubblefield and Taylor Meilleur to give Saint Louis a 2-1 lead.

Saint Louis pushed their lead to five after a four-run outing in the top of the third. After Yamamoto was walked to start the inning, Ryder Kuhns tripled into the deep outfield to drive him in. Kuhns appeared to have the intent of bunting, before going into a full swing at the last moment.

Following Kuhns was Tanner Atiburcio , who ended up getting walked by Punahou pitcher Cole Kanazawa. Stubblefield later drove Kuhns in with a batted ball right down the middle of the Punahou defense. Atiburcio and Stubblefield would go on to score the final runs for the Crusaders.

“It played a big role,” Stubblefield said on their early runs. “We didn’t put too many points up at the end of the game, but the runs we scored in the beginning helped out in the end.” 

Stubblefield was one of the Crusaders’ leading hitters, going 2 for 4 with two runs score and driving in one run.

“That was one of the things that coach (Gusman) wants us to do as far as hitting,” Stubblefield explained. “We want to hit our hits together because when we spread our hits out, we’re not as effective. When we squeeze up our hits and bunch it all up, we’re probably one of the deadliest teams in the state.”

The Buffanblu chipped into the Crusader lead with Branton driving in courtesy runner Drew Ogamori in the bottom of the third. Branton was also responsible for bringing home Justin Matais to make the score 6-3 in the fifth inning. 

Punahou later plated two more runs in the bottom of the seventh to make things interesting. Unfortunately for the Buffanblu, Oshiro came on the mound to seal the deal. After walking Harrison and giving up a hit to Branton, Oshiro struck out three straight batters to end the game. 

“I knew we just had to get three outs to get of the inning,” said Oshiro. “Just throw strikes and have confidence in my defense to make the plays behind me.”

Despite allowing Punahou to get back into the game, coach Gusman is pleased with his team’s efforts.

“We knew how difficult it is to win games,” said Gusman. “As ugly as it was, the (message) that we talked (about) today when we got off the bus (was) to find a way, and I think we found a way.”

Punahou travels to take on No. 4 Iolani (6-4) tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. while Saint Louis takes on Mid-Pacific at 11:30 a.m. Pono Anderson will get the start against the Owls. 

“Every game coach (Gusman) always tells us every game is a championship game. Don’t look to the next game until we complete the one in front of us,” said Oshiro. “We play every game like it’s a championship game and hopefully we can get there at the end of the season.”