Mililani's Kanoa Hironaka gets set to throw a pitch to the plate against Pearl City. Stacy Kaneshiro | SL

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Mililani's Kanoa Hironaka gets set to throw a pitch to the plate against Pearl City. Stacy Kaneshiro | SL

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PEARL CITY - Kanoa Hironaka may have lost some pitching control in the bottom of the seventh inning, but didn't lose control of his temper.

The right-hander pitched into and out of a seventh-inning jam and Mililani held off host Pearl City, 4-2, Wednesday in O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red West baseball.

The Trojans (3-1) stay a game back of idle and division-leading Campbell (4-0), while the Chargers (2-2) fell into a three-way tie for third with Waipahu and 'Aiea in a competitive division where only 2 1/2 games separate first from sixth.

Mililani snapped a 2-all game with two runs in the top of the seventh to give Hironaka the lead. But he allowed successive walks with one out to No. 9 batter Jason Komoda and lead-off batter Tanner Tokunaga. Instead of getting worked up about the runners, he concentrated on getting the hitters out. Colby Hirano flied out to center and Matthew Tsutomi struck out to end the game.

"I knew I couldn't get mad; I got mad earlier in the game," Hironaka said of his adventurous seventh inning. "I was pitching with a lead so I didn't worry about those runs. I worked to get the batters out."

Mililani coach Mark Hirayama showed faith in Hironaka by leaving him in the game after making a mound visit after the first walk.

"He's our best arm," Hirayama said. "We were close to getting someone else in there. He's so competitive that he gets out of himself. So we've been working on him staying in control. He pitched a great game except for a couple bat pitches and we didn't make some plays behind him. You have to go with your best in a situation like that."

Hironaka allowed two runs, only one earned, five hits and four walks with five strikeouts.

"He threw all right," Pearl City coach Mitchell Yamato said. "We missed quite a few opportunites. In the end, we had runners in scoring position and we cannot score. He did his job."

Hironaka and Pearl City starter Kamalu Neal were engaged in a scoreless duel through the first four innings before the Trojans scored twice in the top of the fifth.

Ekolu Ramos doubled to left-center with one out and took third on Adam Connell's single to center. Pinch hitter Jensen Kim then ripped a single to left-center to score Ramos. A misplay in the outfield allowed Connell to score and moved Kim to second. But Neal got the next two batters out to keep his team within striking range.

The Chargers cut their deficit in half in the bottom of the fifth. Sean Milan led off with a double, took third on a ground out to first and remained there when pinch hitter Jordan Perifanos-Taamu struck out. But Komoda's line single to left scored Milan before Tokunaga flied out to center to end the inning.

Pearl City tied it in the sixth. Hirano reached on an error, took second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on Tsutomi's sacrifice. Hironaka walked Kyle Tom and hit Neal with a pitch to load the bases. With Milan at the plate, Hironaka's wild pitch scored Hirano and moved the other runners up. Hironaka struck out Milan and got Shaye Higa to fly out to center to end the frame.

The Trojans wasted little time getting the runs back in the top of the seventh. Trevor Inouye led off with up the middle to second base. Inouye went to second on Ramos' sacrifice and took third on Connell's single to left. That's when Neal was lifted for Tokunaga, who started the game at third base.

After Connell stole second, pinch hitter Justice Nakagawa walked to load the bases. Troy Kakugawa hit a grounder to shortstop, but the second baseman was unable to handle the throw, allowing the runners to advance, including the go-ahead run. With the bases still filled, Travis Maekawa grounded out to first, but his throw to second was late to complete the reverse force double play, allowing Connell to score. Jameson Madrid popped out to second, but the damage was done.

"Can't take care of the ball," Yamato said. "They capitaliized on our errors. Cannot help. No excuses, but we just couldn't take care of the ball."