Call them the 'cardiac Cougars'.

For the fifth time this season, Kaiser rallied from a deficit with some late-inning heroics to edge Leilehua by a 3-2 count, advancing to tomorrow's OIA Red quarterfinals.

Prior to the win over the Mules, Kaiser had notched last-minute, come-from-behind wins over Kahuku (twice), Moanalua, Roosevelt and Castle.

Leilehua struck early in a rough top of the second for Kaiser starter Jordan Alcoran, who walked in a run and gave up an RBI single to Aaron Taoy to give the Mules a 2-0 advantage.

That cushion looked to be more than enough for starter Larry Paas in the middle innings, as the right-hander would hold the Cougars scoreless through five complete, scattering four hits while striking out seven, including four in a row during a stretch between the third and fourth innings.

"I told our guys we probably gonna face Paas and what he has... so we gotta be aggressive." said Kaiser head coach Mark Rasmussen.

"He's a good pitcher. He was painting corners... we just had one good inning." added Kaiser third baseman Michael Austin.

And that good inning would arrive not a moment too soon for the Cougars in the bottom of the sixth.

Following a bunt back to the pitcher for out number one, Jake Torigoe would lace a single down the third baseline, followed by Makana Lyman's grounder that took a big bounce over the shortstop and into left field to put runners on first and second.

Following a strikeout by Paas for the second out, shortstop Andy Verke would bloop a clutch single into shallow right field that would score Torigoe from second, and move Lyman to third.

That would set the table for the sophomore Austin, who would draw the count out to 2-2 before lacing a single just past the glove of the diving first baseman, scoring Lyman easily, and allowing Verke to motor his way to third.

The throw to plate would bounce short, somehow glancing off of Austin's bat lying on the dirt near home plate and towards the backstop, allowing Verke to come home with the go-ahead score.

"This game (baseball) is a weird game, strange things happen." remarked Rasmussen.

"As long as we got outs on the board, we can always keep swinging and you never know what's going to happen." he added. "Eventually we scored a few runs...We got small hits, but they were big hits."

Kelan Yoshioka came in to close out the seventh for the Cougars, and following a leadoff walk, would induce a bunt out, pop out and a ground out to end it.

Yoshioka credited Kaiser's defensive effort. "They (Kaiser's defense) are the backbone for what we do." he said. "They (Leilehua) actually hit the ball a lot, its just that they (Kaiser's defense) made the outs and made it easier for us to pitch."

Verke would go 2-for-3 from the plate with a run and an RBI, and Torigoe would also finish 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.

Leilehua shortstop Aaron Taoy was 1-for-2 with an RBI.

Kaiser will travel to Ewa Beach to take on West second-seed Campbell in tomorrow's quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m.

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