Mid-Pacific pitcher Alex Oley reacts after the Saint Louis runner is doubled off at second in the first inning. The Owls retired the side in order for he rest of the game in a win over the Crusaders. John Lujan | Special to SL

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WAIPIO – Left-hander Alex Oley faced the minimum 21 batters, yet was still imperfect. But he and No. 4 Mid-Pacific will take it after edging No. 1 Saint Louis, 2-0, Saturday at the Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park.

The win pushed the Owls (7-3) and Kamehameha (7-3), a 9-3 winner against Punahou, into a tie for first in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I and dropped the Crusaders (6-3) a half-game behind. Saint Louis, though, still must complete suspended game against Punahou Monday at Ala Wai Field. Saint Louis was leading, 1-0, in the fourth inning.

"We just need to stay together," Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. "We let everybody catch us up now, but we're not behind. We control ourselves, our own destiny, so we're just going to take care of business Monday."

It was nice win for the Owls.

"It's a big win," Oley said. "Every win is a big win because every team in this league, they're all tough. You have to focus the whole game. A team like Saint Louis, they're hot. They hit well, they pitch well, they play defense well, so it's a big win against a team like that."

Oley's only mistake was allowing a one-out line drive double to right center to Taylor Meilleur in the first inning. But the first of several nice defensive plays erased courtesy runner Bronson Timbreza when shortstop Jacob Maekawa made catch with his back to the infield off a pop up by Kaiolohia Perreira-Alquiza and doubled off the runner at second to end the inning. Oley was perfect the rest of the way.

"He had command of his fastball, breaking ball and changeup," Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. "That's a deadly combination. He's a competitor and he's pitched in big games. Gosh, he was tough today."

Meilleur's hit was clean and between the right and center fielders. Aaron Renaud was robbed of a possible hit when second baseman Zachary Gushiken back-handed a grounder up the middle and made a strong throw to first. Keith Torres fouled out on a nice catch by first baseman Ryne Yamashiro.

Oley, who struck out two and walked none, overshadowed a strong outing by junior Chase Meilleur, brother of catcher Taylor. Chase gave up two runs, 10 hits and a walk with one strikeout in seven innings.

"Fastballs, location-wise and a lot of off-speeds," Oley said of his pitches that were working. "It just felt good today. My defense backed me up big time. Whenever you play a team like Saint Louis, they're always a tough team. They hit well, so you always have to be ready for them."

As for the only hit he allowed to Taylor Meilleur.

"It was a slider," Oley said. "Taylor, he's a good hitter, he caught it clean."

The Owls capitalized on lead-off hits to score their runs. They broke the scoreless deadlock in the fifth. No. 9 hitter Hunter Hill beat out chopper to third base, took second on Maekawa's sacrifice and went to third when Oley singled off third baseman Brendan Uchima's glove. With runners at the corners, DH Chase Wago avoided an inning-ending double play by beating the relay to first after grounding to second for a force at second, scoring Hill. Yamashiro grounded out to second to end the inning.

In the sixth, Cameron Wong led off with a single to center and pinch runner Jarrod Infante took second on pinch hitter Ryne Aniya's sacrifice and went to third when Trevin Tengan grounded out to second. Gushiken, who singled to right and flied out to right earlier, lined a single to right to make it 2-0.

"All day, when (we) had runners in scoring position, they threw off-speed," said Gushiken. "So went with the slider; I let two (sliders) go. I knew he was coming with one more, so I waited on it. The pitch was down the middle and I saw the break, so I moved to the outside and took it that way."

Though Hill followed with a single, the inning ended when Maekawa grounded to third for a force at third.

The Owls threatened in the top of the seventh when pinch hitter Michael China led off with a single and was lifted for pinch runner Oley, who was re-entering the game. Oley took second on Wago's sacrifice and advanced to third when Yamashiro grounded out to short, but Infante grounded out to third to stand the runner.

The Crusaders were not helped when starting left fielder Matt Wong left the game after the top of the first inning with a pulled hip flexor. "When he came in (from the outfield) in the first inning, he said, ‘Coach, I cannot run,'" Gusman said. "So our hottest hitter was out of the lineup."

Wong was hitting .444 with two doubles, two triples and eight RBI.