ILH Baseball
Punahou pitchers throw 1-hitter for ILH title


  



Wed, May 1, 2019 @ [ 4:30 pm ]


FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Kamehameha 0 000000012
Punahou 0 0 0011X260

W: Matt McConnell    L: Christian DeJesus    SV: Landon Carter

PUN: Kalae Harrison 1-3 run; Matt McConnell 5.3 IP 0 ER 4 K
KSK: Vincente-James Venenciano 1-2; Christian DeJesus 5.3 IP 1 ER 2 K


WAIPAHU — Matt McConnell and Landon Carter collaborated on a one-hitter and No. 3 Punahou beat No. 5 Kamehameha, 2-0, Wednesday to win its first Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I baseball title since 2008.

The title game at Hans L'Orange Park pitted the first-round champion Buffanblu (14-4) against the second-round champion Warriors (13-8). It was Punahou's 26th overall crown.

Punahou, Kamehameha and Saint Louis will represent the ILH in next week's Wally Yonamine Foundation Division I state tournament on Maui.

The. Buffanblu could not find a better time to come up with clutch pitching. The Warriors, who finished fourth in the first round, won eight of their last 11 games. The Warriors three losses in that stretch each was by one run. Wednesday's loss was the first time Kamehameha lost by more than one run since March 23 in a 3-1 loss to Saint Louis.

"Kamehameha's pitching staff is one of the best in the state and that's why they're in the position they're in," Punahou coach Keenan Sue said. "They pitched well today; we just happen to get a few breaks."

McConnell was untouchable in 5 1/3 innings. He threw first-pitch strikes to 14 of the 19 batters he faced, allowing no hits. He ran three-ball counts three times, each resulting in walks for the Warriors' only base runners through six. He was perfect through four until he walked the leadoff hitter in the fifth. McConnell walked two batters in the sixth and was pulled with one out for Carter, who recorded the next two outs to escape the jam.

The Buffanblu took a no-hitter into the seventh, but lead-off hitter Vicente Venenciano smoked a grounder inside third, where third baseman Makana Murashige made a diving stop and threw to first from his knees to no avail. The no-hitter had ended. Still, it was a crucial stop because instead of Venenciano possibly standing on second, his courtesy runner Kobe Iwai was erased when Beau Sylvester grounded to shortstop for a double play. Hanu Racoma flied out to end the game.

"He made a great play on it," Carter said of Murashige's stop. "We couldn't get the out, but it was a tough play and we were able to turn two because of that."

Sue, Murashige and Carter said they were unaware there was a no-hitter going on. But McConnell knew.

"A little bit, but I didn't want to think about it too much," admitted McConnell of the no-hitter on the line. "But it was a pretty cool feeling."

Matt McConnell was untouchable in his 5 1/3 innings of work without allowing a hit. Spencer Honda | SL    Purchase image

The Punahou pitchers had to be at their best because Christian DeJesus was nearly as effective. In 5 1/3 innings, he was charged with two runs, one earned, six hits with two strikeouts.

"He's one of my bulldogs," Kamehameha coach Daryl Kitagawa said. "I talked to him yesterday — even when he closed (one inning against Saint Louis the day before) — I told him you're one of my guys; I've got plenty guys. But (DeJesus) earned the right to pitch in the ILH championship game. For how he did, how he threw today, hat's off to him. And hat's off to Punahou. They deserved it today."

Murashige was the spark to break the scoreless deadlock in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Murashige's push bunt perfectly between first and second was enough to draw both fielders initially to the ball. But when the first baseman and pitcher each realized one had to cover the bag, it was too late. Second baseman Keaka Barrozo went to the uncovered bag, allowing Murashige to take second. After taking third when Matt Nishimura flied out to left-center, Murashige scored on Kirk Terada-Herzer's ground single to center. Cody Hirano followed with a bad-hop single to short that moved Terada-Herzer to third, but Hirano was caught stealing to end the inning.

"Christian DeJesus threw a hell of a game," Murashige said of his bunt single. "I felt we should try to get something started so I saw the first baseman playing back so I guess I'll try it, see what happens ... I was just trying to get it past the pitcher."

It was a smart move by Murashige.

"Their pitchers are so good that if you're not going to put the barrel on the ball, you got to figure out a way to get on base," Sue said. "We just talked about ‘find a way.'"

The Buffanblu insured their lead in the bottom of the sixth. Kalae Harrison flared a single to right-center, took second on a passed ball and went to third when Jake Tsukada flied out to center. DeJesus was pulled for Kelena Sauer, but Aaron Tom's sacrifice fly to left scored Harrison before Kade Morihara struck out to end the inning.

The Buffanblu will receive one of the seeded berths for the state tournament. The tournament actually starts Friday when Leilehua plays Waiakea on the Big Island in a play-in game for the final state berth.



Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at [email protected].




Show your support

Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ScoringLive continue its mission to provide the best and most comprehensive coverage of high school sports in the state of Hawaii and beyond.

Please consider making a contribution today.

ADVERTISEMENT


IMAGE GALLERY



MORE STORIES

Punahou continues unbeaten streak, hands Kamehameha second straight loss

Third-ranked Warriors suffered consecutive losses in the regular season for the first time since 2017.

No. 4 Iolani rallies to hand No. 1 Kamehameha first ILH loss

Ethan Akagi and CJ Taira scored the winning runs for the Raiders off a wild pitch to hand the top-ranked...

Punahou pulls away from PAC-5 to notch first ILH win

The Buffanblu ended a five-game skid and broke into the win column to keep the Wolfpack winless in the...

Kalani's Nishigaya headlines All-OIA East selections

Forward/midfielder Kaiulani Nishigaya helped lift Falcons to first-ever league title; Kaiser's Noelani...

Trojans' Fuamatu-Maafala leads All-OIA West picks

Mililani's Iai Fuamatu-Maafala named Player of the Year; Campbell's James Curran named coach of the year.

Knights' Turcios named All-OIA East player of the year

Damon Turcios lone Castle player named to first team; Kailua's Joseph Wood named coach of the year.