Despite four of the five teams in ILH Division I ranked in the ScoringLive/OC16 Power Rankings and marquee matchups to spare on a weekly basis, the first of three meetings between league leading Mid-Pacific (5-0-1) and second place Saint Louis (5-1-0) set to take place today at Central Oahu Regional Park at 3:30 p.m. is likely one that many ILH baseball fans and perhaps just as many statewide have circled on the calendar.

Mid-Pacific has not dropped a league game since April 27, 2013, a 2-1 loss to Iolani, winning 8-of-9 games during the span. The lone blemish? The Owls tied Kamehameha on March 11, 2014, a game that went 10 innings before being called off due to darkness, 4-4.

The Owls average 8.5 runs per game and 8.3 hits per contest, but that offensive tempo has increased over the last three contests, where the Owls have plated 37 runs on 35 hits. The Owls are rock solid defensively, but have already committed more errors this year (5) then they did in all of 2013 (2).

After starting off 2013 with an 0-2 mark and a 7-9 finish, Saint Louis has come out of the gate well in 2014, with the one aberration being a 7-0 loss to Iolani on March 15.

In their 5 wins, the Crusaders have had little trouble putting runs or hits up on the scoreboard, averaging 7.2 runs and 9.4 hits per contest. They have also played sparkling defense, committing just four errors in league play through six games, all of those miscues coming in the loss to the Raiders.

On the mound, Mid-Pacific sophomore Chase Wago leads the team in wins (2) and innings pitched (12.0) and sports a 2.92 ERA. But Wago ranks a distant fourth in ERA on his team, behind fellow sophomore Connor Zalewski (0.00 ERA, 8.1 IP), junior Grant Doi (0.00, 8.1 IP) and junior Noah Sills (0.78 ERA, 9.0 IP). The Owls have a collective 12 strikeouts as a team.

In contrast, the Crusaders' pitching corps have notched 34 strikeouts, with Pono Anderson (12) and Jordan Yamamoto (18) accounting for the lions' share. Anderson leads the team in innings pitched (20.1) but Yamamoto sports the better ERA at 1.08 (in 13.0 IP). Freshman Dawson Yamaguchi pitched 5 scoreless innings to notch a win over Pac-Five on March 21.

Offensively, Mid-Pacific and Saint Louis both have accumulated 50 hits on the year, but the Owls hold a five-base advantage in the aggregate total.

The Owls' Nicholas Bottom leads the ILH in RBIs (7) and is 5th in runs scored (5) while batting at a .389 clip. OF Bryce Nagata is 2nd in hits (10) and has registered a base knock in all five games he's appeared in, good for a .588 average. Jarrett Lum (.556 BA, 4 RBI, 3 runs) and Cameron Igarashi (.438 BA, 5 RBI, 3 runs) have also been major contributors.

Ryder Kuhns leads the Crusaders with a .444 average, but teammate Rayson Romero has hit safely in every game this year (.400 BA, 6 RBI) and the aforementioned Yamamoto is also hitting .400 on the year. Jacob Gribbin leads the team in runs (6) and stolen bases (2), and speedy Devan Stubblefield has 5 runs and 4 RBI despite batting just .167 (3-of-18).

Probable pitchers for today could very well be each staff's ace, with the Owls turning to Wago and the Crusaders going with Yamamoto. Neither has pitched since March 18.

The Crusaders and Owls will face off two more times this season, on April 5 at CORP (11:30 a.m.) and again on April 15 at Mid-Pacific (3:45 pm.).