Let the prognosticating begin on which team will raise the Division I trophy on Saturday night at the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA Baseball Championships at Iron Maehara Stadium.

Here are some observations on the first round. Second round musings to come tomorrow.

MILILANI-WAIPAHU

The tourney on Maui opens play with the Marauders taking on the Trojans in a 10 a.m. contest. Mililani finished strong, winning 4 of 5 to close out their OIA campaign, the only blemish coming in the Red title game against Campbell.

But Waipahu will likely roll with ace Dylan Sugimoto, just a junior, but a seasoned pitcher with a wealth of post-season tournament experience, including a state title under his belt. Sugimoto has a 6-0 record in league play as a starter this season.

Both teams have allowed more runs than they have scored, and Mililani has not scored more than 6 runs in any contest thus far.

Prediction: Marauders find enough offense to let Sugimoto work his usual magic on the mound. WAIPAHU

IOLANI-KAILUA

The cardiac Raiders will certainly be riding high off of a thrilling 13-inning inning win that got them into the state tournament. A very young Iolani squad presevered through an extremely grueling 5-games-in-5-days marathon that was the ILH double elimination playoff, which featured three straight games against the second-seeded Owls, an experience that might prove beneficial this week.

They will find the sledding tough against Kailua, arguably the hottest team in the OIA outside of league champ Campbell. The Surfriders won 6 games in the month of April, including a multi-inning classic of their own, an important 12 inning defeat of Pearl City in the late stages of the OIA Red playoffs.

Kailua pitcher Bryce Ah Sam, who transferred from Iolani two seasons ago, projects to be a starter against his old school.

Prediction: Raiders should prevail if they continue to play error-free defense (only 2 errors in last 27 innings) and find a way to get to Ah Sam with their bats early. IOLANI

WAIAKEA-LEILEHUA

Leilehua might be the surprise team of the tournament, taking down East second-seed Moanalua in the OIA playoff opener, then knocking off Waipahu a day later to clinch a spot in states.

They will face Waiakea, the reigning Division I state champion, who fell to Hilo High, 8-5, in an 11-inning marathon Sunday. Waiakea has lost to Hilo three times this season.

Leilehua's Cody Academia will likely match up with Waiakea's Kodi Medeiros in the opening round.

Medeiros, along with Quintin Torres-Costa, were instrumental in pitching the Warriors to last year's title.

Prediction: If Academia is at his best on the mound the Mules are hard to beat, but Medeiros and company should find a way to recapture some of the magic of their 2012 campaign. WAIAKEA

MAUI-PEARL CITY

The Chargers will match up with the Maui Sabers, who took down tourney top-seed Baldwin, 6-4, to force a playoff for the MIL title, but lost 3-1 in the finale.

Pearl City sports one the highest scoring offenses in the state, putting up 99 runs of offense this season to go along with 157 hits.

The Sabers will likely counter with pitcher Micah Isagawa to try and keep the Chargers off the scoreboard, but will face a tough out of their own in Pearl City hurler Tanner Tokunaga.

Prediction: Look for the Pearl City offense to overcome the home-field advantage enjoyed by Maui High. PEARL CITY