Mid-Pacific, Punahou ends in tie after game called due to darkness

Greg Yamamoto | SL

After an eventful seven innings with 14 runs scored on Wednesday afternoon at Mid-Pacific's baseball field, the game was called early due to darkness.

At the top of the eighth inning, after Punahou scored three runs to take the lead, the umpires came together and decided to call the game. However, since the inning wasn't finished, the game reverted to the score of the last completed inning, which was the seventh, with the score tied at 7-7.

"I'm proud of our fight in our boys to not just back down, even though multiple times we had our backs against the wall with two outs, down one, and come back and tie the game," said Alaka'i Aglipay, who is Punahou's head coach "Great team baseball, and they're getting better every day, I'm really proud of them."

The Buffanblu (2-1-1) refused to give up, which sent the game into extra innings before it was called early. With the game on the line in the top of the seventh and two outs, Punahou's lead-off batter Kekoa Payanal hit a single to right field that caused a Mid-Pacific error and brought in a run to tie it. Pitcher Daly Watson was then able to close out the bottom of the inning with a strikeout.

The excitement started right away in the game with Punahou's Kahaku Harrison hitting a two-run home run in the top of the first. The Owls (2-0-2) were able to get a home run of their own in the bottom of the third, when senior outfielder Reece Higuchi cleared the right field fence and brought in 3 runs.

The game was back and forth, with the scoring coming mostly in the third and fourth innings. After the seven runs scored in the two innings, the Buffanblu had the lead by one in the fifth.

"We kept trading punches, and that's a testament to our team and their team," Aglipay said. "It was a great game."

Higuchi stepped up for a second time with a two-out bunt that brought in a run. The gutsy call by Mid-Pacific's head coach, Dunn Muramaru, paid off and squared the game. Thanks to a good pitching performance by junior Kaisa Pat-Borja, who only gave up two hits in his three innings, the Owls were able to take the lead in the sixth with a sac fly to right field.

"I love coaching against Coach D (the Owl's head coach), bunting with two outs, I'm not even surprised," Aglipay said. "I'm just glad we didn't make it any worse in that play."

In the top of the seventh, the error came when the Owl's first baseman fumbled the ball, causing him to miss the throw at home, which was the team's fourth error of the game. To stack on to the errors, Punahou batters were hit by a pitch five times. The mistakes from the Owls left Muramaru frustrated after the game, despite the team still receiving a tie.

"That's the kind of stuff we talk about and the stuff we practice," said Muramaru, who has been the Owl's head coach for 38 years. "I swear we practice this stuff, we just have to be sure we look and know where the guys are."