Isagawa provides relief as Mid-Pacific tops ‘Iolani in ILH tourney

Oliver Isagawa came through with 51⁄3 scoreless innings in relief as Mid-Pacific rallied for a 6-3 win over ‘Iolani on the first day of the ILH round-two double-elimination tournament.

Third-seeded Mid-Pacific will meet second-seeded Pac-Five today at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park. Top-seeded Kamehameha will play fourth-seeded Saint Louis, which edged fifth seed Punahou 3-2. Both games will be at 3:30 p.m. on the CORP fields.

‘Iolani and Punahou will meet at Ala Wai Field in a 3 p.m. elimination game.

After a weekend of consternation for the Owls, the teams played ball on a cloudy, occasionally sunny afternoon in Manoa. After finishing in a second-place tie with Pac-Five to end the shortened regular season, Mid-Pacific had appealed the ILH’s decision to grant the Wolfpack the second seed. The appeal was rejected on Monday, which allowed Pac-Five to have an opening-round bye.

“It is what it is. We just try to do our best,” MPI coach Dunn Muramaru said

‘Iolani jumped to a 3-1 lead in the third inning, but Mid-Pacific kept its composure.

“We went out there and said, ‘Hang it there, it’s still early in the game. Let’s keep the game close,’ ” Muramaru said.

Among the many advantages of being a 2 seed instead of a 3 seed, Pac-Five likely won’t face Isagawa today.

The 6-foot junior was masterful against ‘Iolani, allowing just two hits with two strikeouts, no walks and one hit batter. He relieved Luke Takakuwa-Holtey, who started and went 12⁄3 innings, permitting three unearned runs on two hits with one strikeout, two walks and three batters hit.

“I got about 30 pitches (in the bullpen). I was good coming into the game. I was a little nervous and stuff, but it’s just the same game we play the whole time,” Isagawa said. “After my first inning, I felt I would do the job. Against ‘Iolani, you have to throw strikes. I have the best defense in the whole state.”

The Raiders had some good contact, but line drives ended up in the gloves of Owls.

“He pitches to contact. It’s a good thing the wind was blowing in. ‘Iolani hit the ball pretty well,” Muramaru said.

It was a spectacle of hit batsmen at times. ‘Iolani starter Charlie Ushijima had moments of brilliance but ultimately paid the price for inconsistent control. The right-hander allowed six runs on two hits with three strikeouts, three walks and five batters hit in 41⁄3 innings.

Brennan Kim went 12⁄3 innings in scoreless relief of Ushijima. He allowed two hits, fanned one, walked one and hit one batter.

Weather at MPI’s Damon Field wasn’t particularly unusual. What little wind there was blew in from right field, Kona low style, and there there were occasional light showers.

The home team scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the second inning. Eli Iopa was hit by pitch and La‘a Inglis grounded into a forceout. Troy Higashi followed a a chopper over third base for a double, scoring Higashi for a 1-0 Owls lead.