Honokaa shuts down Damien to claim D-II baseball title

Josyah Napoleon-Umeda and his Honokaa teammates came for the Monarchs, and they didn’t miss.

Napoleon-Umeda struck out nine batters and didn’t allow a run to beat Damien 3-0 for the Wally Yonamine Foundation Division II state baseball championship on Saturday at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Dragons were undefeated in 17 contests this season but still went into the game overlooked because the team in the other dugout is state royalty in Division II baseball. Honokaa had won only one game on the biggest stage, and that came way back in 2009. The Monarchs, on the other hand, had ruled for two years and sported an 18-2 record in the state tournament, with their only losses coming in championship games. Their state winning percentage of 86% remains the highest in state tournament history, ahead of Maryknoll (83%) and Punahou (82%).

That made the victory all that much sweeter for the scrappy lads from the Big Island and their little lefty.

“We wanted to play the best and beat the best,” Honokaa coach Waylon Salazar said. “It’s just a blessing, good stuff for the kids. We are just super blessed with a super blessed team.”

Napoleon-Umeda allowed only three hits and three walks and never let a Monarch pass second base. His 104th pitch was a weak ground ball to first baseman Rory Crabbe, who ended the Damien dynasty by himself before the Dragons converged on him for the celebration.

“All I had to do is throw strikes and these boys made the plays for me and I am grateful for them,” Napoleon-Umeda said. “I knew that we had it from the very beginning, I just wanted my boys to know that we had it.”

Damien starter Max Detrinis struck out the first batter he faced, but the Dragons punched back immediately. Jayden Salazar laced a single to center and Crabbe bounced a ball over the first baseman for another single. A fielder’s choice ground ball to short scored Salazar and Chrys Coelho placed a long fly ball between the left and center fielders for a double to send Isaac DeRego home with a two-run lead.

The Dragons loaded the bases with one out in the fifth but came away empty on a ground ball back to Detrinis followed by an emphatic strikeout of Hauoli McGurn on a 3-2 pitch. The Dragons, who left 11 runners on base in the game, delivered in the following inning when Napoleon-Umeda walked, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch before Salazar knocked him in with a clean single to left. They threatened but didn’t score again, with Kekona Begonia taking over for beleaguered Detrinis after his 109th pitch and shutting the Dragons down 1-2-3 in the seventh.

Damien had been blanked before, but Napoleon-Umeda befuddled them as much as any pitcher has even though the Monarchs play in the rugged ILH. Napoleon-Umeda’s gem was the first championship game shutout since Bryce Ueno and Damien blanked Radford over five innings in 2018.

“They are a great team, Josyah kept us off balance all day,” Damien coach Skylar Tengan said. “Our hitters had a hard time, and if you can’t hit the ball you can’t win. That was pretty much the bottom line for us. (Detrinis) battled and kept us in the game and that’s all we ask but you can’t win with zero runs.”