Waipahu pitcher Dylan Sugimoto throws a pitch to the plate against Leilehua. Sylvia Lee | SL

Purchase image 1 of 3

Waipahu's Tyler Enos connects with a pitch against Leilehua. Sylvia Lee | SL

Purchase image 2 of 3

Waipahu's Jordan Mendiola slides into home plate to score a run against Leilehua. Sylvia Lee | SL

Purchase image 3 of 3

WAIPAHU - Patience at the plate paid off for the Waipahu baseball team. 

The Marauders drew eight walks despite just four hits, but got a solid pitching performance from Dylan Sugimoto in an 8-0 win over Leilehua Saturday at Hans L'Orange Park. Waipahu won its third straight game to complete the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red West Conference season with an 8-4 record, which ties it with Pearl City in a tie for second place behind division-leader Campbell.

Both teams had already clinched a berth into the 12-team OIA Red Tournament, but the top two finishers from both the East and West divisions earn a first-round bye into the quarterfinal round. With Mililani's 6-2 win over Campbell late Saturday, it assured Waipahu the West's No. 2 seed over Pearl City.

The ramifications, however, were of little influence to the Marauders Saturday.

"No, not really," Waipahu coach Milton Takenaka said. "We just told them that we have to win out and whatever happens, happens."

Sugimoto, a junior left-hander, led the way on the mound with a stellar effort. He tossed a complete-game, two-hitter with two strikeouts, while allowing just one walk.

"To be honest, I didn't feel like anything was working," Sugimoto said. "The fastball, I didn't have that control over it, the curveball wasn't there. The change-up was all right today, but I just had to adjust and work with what I had. My defense made a lot of plays, I only had two strikeouts, but I just had to let the defense work."

Sugimoto, who threw just 80 pitches - including 50 for strikes - allowed a leadoff single to start the game, then retired 10 of the next 11 batters.

"He did a great job," Leilehua coach Lane Watanuki said of Sugimoto. "Coming into the game, we all knew that Sugimoto is tough and we needed to eliminate mistakes on our part to be competitive and we didn't, so that's the way it goes sometimes."

Mules starting pitcher Cody Academia went five innings and allowed four runs on two hits with two strikeouts. He issued five walks.

Academia cruised through the first three innings without allowing a hit, but walked the first two batters to start the fourth inning to put himself in a jam. Enos came around to score after a Waipahu throwing error and with runners at the corners, Joshua Maglangit plated another run on a succesful double-steal that saw Guy Villanueva advance to second.

The Marauders added another pair of runs in the fifth when Matapua Tulafale drew a one-out walk and ended up scoring from third on a wild pitch to make the score, 3-0. One batter later, Enos drove in Justin Padilla with a two-out single to centerfield.

Takenaka was pleased to see his team manufacture some runs on a day where it hardly racked up the hits.

"That's what was happening to us earlier in the season," Takenaka said. "Teams were scoring runs because we were giving runs, but now, just the opposite is working out. Our kids realize now that if we play without making mistakes, we'll always be in the game."

Waipahu sent nine batters to the plate in a three-run sixth inning. After a leadoff single by Villanueva, Jordan Mendiola and Graysen Fuentes drew back-to-back, four-pitch walks to load the bases. Rustin Ho singled to rightfield to plate Villanueva, but Mendiola was thrown out trying to score from second by Mules' right fielder Ricky Van Gelder on the same play. Tulafale then loaded the bases with an infield single and two batters later, Padilla walked to score courtesy runner Christopher Payne from third. Ho made the score 7-0 when he scored on a Leilehua fielding error on a ground ball past the third baseman.

Mendiola closed out the scoring with a run in the top of the seventh inning on another Mules' error.

"It's just a matter of throwing strikes and making the defensive plays," Watanuki said. "When we don't make the defensive plays, usually bad things happen and that's exactly what happened."

Leilehua saw its two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 4-8. It will be the West's sixth-seed in the OIA Red Tournament.

Waipahu moved up to Division I this season after capturing the Division II OIA and state championships last year.

"We came into Division I thinking that we might compete, but we're not really going to take many games, so to end the season 8-4 is huge for us and it's a huge motivation for us going into the playoffs," Sugimoto said.