WAIPIO — No win is easy to come by in the ultra-competitive Interscholastic League of Honolulu, but this one was years in the making for the Damien Monarchs. 

Cade Lurito's RBI-single to right field with one out in the bottom of the sixth inning lifted No. 7 Damien to a 3-2 win over Mid-Pacific in a tightly-contested ball game at Patsy T. Mink/Central Oahu Regional Park Tuesday afternoon. 

The victory pushed the Division-II Monarchs to 3-0 on the season, while the D-I Owls fell to 1-2. 

Damien twice rallied from a one-run deficit. Kona Begonia scored the tying run on Rydge Kohagura's one-out sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth inning before Lurito, who started the game on the mound, came through with the go-ahead RBI  by driving in Max Detrinis one frame later. 

"This win means a lot, especially for the culture and stuff," said Lurito, a senior left-handed pitcher. "Like our coaches say, this is a strong team (with) a lot of potential and I feel like we have a lot to build on, but I think we're in a good spot right now."

Lurito admittedly didn't have his best stuff on the mound Tuesday. He went three innings and allowed two runs on five hits with one walk. Lurito did not strike out a batter. 

After Lurito walked Brayden Shizuru to open the game, Ezekiel Asato brought Shizuru home two batters later with his single to center. However, the Monarchs got the run back in the bottom of the first. Aaron Rapoza drew a one-out walk and later scored on an RBI-single by Detrinis past the third baseman. 

Lurito, who previously attended Mid-Pacific before he transferred to Damien several years ago, said the quick answer from his teammates gave him some of his confidence back. 

"It helped a lot. Hving the guys behind you, it really helps, especially out there because out there it can get really quiet and you can get in your own head, but when you come back in here it's just the team keeping me up and keeping us in it," Lurito said. 

Mid-Pac reclaimed the lead in the top of the third, when Kyler Chun pulled a double down the left field line to open the frame. An RBI-single off the bat of Adam Kobayashi plated Chun two batters later. 

Lurito gave way to reliever Sam Cezar-Kanakaole in the fourth inning. Cezar-Kanakaole retired four batters before he was replaced by Rapoza, who moved from shortstop to the mound with one out in the top of the fifth. 

Rapoza took over with a runner in scoring position, but got the final two outs of the frame to escape the jam. 

"Aaron is our shortstop, but he's also our high-leverage (pitcher) and he knows that, he was like that from last year and he loves that situation. He loves being on the mound during that time, so there's no doubt who we're going to in that situation and he came through for us today," Tengan said. 

Rapoza, who compiled a 2-0 record with two saves and a 1.17 earned run average over 18 innings of work last year, affirmed his coach's belief in him. 

"I'm very comfortable," he said. "The players and the coaches trust me a lot, I've been through this the last two years, so just coming in the words I was reminding myself in my head was just ‘be fearless' and ‘nobody is gonna beat me. I just have to throw strikes and just win.' "

In the bottom of the fifth, Kona Begonia led off with a single to center before he moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Nai Begonia. Rapoza then drew a walk to put two runners aboard before Kona Begonia advanced to third after a balk by Owls' starting pitcher Luke Takakuwa-Holtey. 

After Takakuwa-Holtey was lifted for Caleb Nakamoto, Kohagura lifted a 1-1 offering from the latter to centerfield, which allowed Kona Begonia to tag up for the tying run. 

Rapoza gave up a leadoff single to open the Mid-Pac sixth, but came away unscathed after he sat down the next three batters. The bottom of the frame saw Detrinis get beaned to put the leadoff man aboard for the Monarchs. Damien then put down back-to-back bunts to move Detrinis all the way over to third before Lurito lined the first pitch he saw from Nakamoto into right field. 

Lurito flied out in his first at-bat and struck out looking in his second trip to the plate, but none of that was in his thoughts as he walked to the plate in the sixth. 

"I feel like before I would have just been in my head — ‘gotta clutch up, gotta clutch up, gotta do the job, gotta be the hero' — but as I was walking up I just thought in my head, ‘Just clear it. There's nothing going on, no outs, bases clear,' so that's what I was thinking, just clear my head and I just saw that first pitch come out of his hand and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that's the one,' " Lurito said. 

On a day when Lurito struggled on the mound, Rapoza credited his fellow senior for contributing with his bat. 

"Him clutching up with the hit, it was just amazing to see a player just fight through adversity and just get one of the team," Rapoza said. 

Rapoza had to overcome his own bit of adversity in the top of the seventh. After he retired the first two batters of the inning, Rapoza allowed a two-out double by Shizuru. Tengan then used a mound visit to re-focus his closer. 

"I told him (Shizuru's) not the game-winning run, so even if we give up that hit and they score, we still get (at-bats) and I was just trying to calm him down, get him to throw strikes and let the defense work," Tengan stated. 

Rapoza responded by getting Kobayashi to fly out to left on his very next pitch for the final out. 

It was only then that Tengan could breathe a sigh of relief. 

"We had to grind that one out, for sure. We didn't hit the ball like we've been for the last two games, but it was a good team win. The pitchers kept us in the game and we knew if we kept grinding at-bats, then the clutch hit would come and we put down two big bunts that (bottom of the sixth) inning, so that kind of the key," Tengan said. 

It is the Monarchs' first win over the Owls in at least 15 seasons and snapped a string of no fewer than 14 consecutive losses to them. 

The victory was extra special for Tengan, a former Mid-Pacific standout infielder in his playing days. Tengan, who took over at Damien in 2021 and has been with the program since 2019, is a 2012 graduate of MPI and played under venerable coach Dunn Muramaru. 

Tuesday's win was Tengan's first over his former coach, whom he considers a mentor. 

"It's a little sweeter," Tengan acknowledged.

"I've looked up to coach Dunn since I played for him and I call him all the time. I've learned so much from him and I kind of modeled our program after what he's done over there because, I mean, he's one of the best to do it," Tengan said of Muramaru, who in January was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. 

Muramaru credited Tengan and the Monarchs for their execution. 

"They do what you're supposed to do. They throw strikes, they make you hit the ball, they play defense and then with runners in scoring position they put the ball in play. They do the stuff you're supposed to do, so we played them tight, but the mistakes cost us. We make a couple errors, but it costs us games. We're just very inexperienced, very inexperienced, but we'll get better. We don't have a choice," Muramaru said. 

Both teams return to the diamond Thursday. Mid-Pacific will host top-ranked Kamehameha (3-0) at Damon Field, while Damien will face Maryknoll (0-3) at CORP. First pitch for both games is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.