Sabers fall to Buffanblu in semifinals

HONOLULU — Jeremy Fujimoto struck out nine batters in a three-hit shutout for Punahou School on Friday in a 9-0 victory over Maui High in the semifinals of the Wally Yonamine Foundation Division I State Baseball Championships at Les Murakami Stadium.

The top-seeded Buffanblu, the four-time defending state champs, scored in all six innings they batted.

Maui High (14-4) will face Pearl City in the third-place game today at 1:30 p.m. The Chargers lost 2-1 to St. Louis, which will meet Punahou (15-5-1) in the championship at 7 p.m.

Only one runner for the fourth-seeded Sabers got past first base — Justin Fontanilla tripled with two outs in the seventh inning.

Maui High’s Mitch Crim led off the game with a single, but after Josh Gascon lined out to shortstop Joshua Bninski, and Jordan Inamasu struck out, Crim was caught stealing. Fujimoto then retired 10 batters in a row.

Maui High committed four errors and allowed three unearned runs. All 10 Punahou hits were singles.

Peter Ibanez pitched the first two innings for the Sabers, allowing five runs, two of them unearned. Alika Aheona pitched the last four innings.