Trojans finish second

Kauai defeats St. Anthony 1-0 in Division II championship game

By ROBERT COLLIAS, Staff Writer
HONOLULU — In oh so many ways, it was over all too fast for the St. Anthony High School baseball team.

The Trojans gave up one run in the top of the first inning and lost 1-0 to Kauai in the Wally Yonamine Foundation Division II State Championships title game on Saturday at Murakami Stadium.

It took just one hour and 41 minutes, and it turned out that wasn’t enough time for the Trojans’ bats to get going against Kauai senior left-hander David Jordan Buster, who pitched a three-hitter with eight strikeouts and one walk.

That barely overshadowed the eight-hitter pitched by St. Anthony senior right-hander Michael Jahns, who struck out three and walked one.

‘‘The game could have gone either way,’’ Kauai coach Hank Ibia said. ‘‘Their pitcher threw well, our pitcher threw one pitch better.’’

St. Anthony coach Shane Dudoit said Buster was not untouchable.

‘‘He wasn’t,’’ Dudoit said. ‘‘We just weren’t able to execute. You cannot defend walks. Michael did really well, but he fell behind a little too much. The hits they had came on two-ball, 3-1 counts. It is hard to defend that.’’

Dudoit said his team missed three signals, but he declined to say exactly where they came.

‘‘We were swinging at balls, some of our swings were a little too big, we made contact, but not at the right time,’’ he said. ‘‘We missed some signals, we got picked off, but we will deal with it.’’

The Red Raiders took their 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Trent Allianic singled with one out, moved to second when Rysan Sakamoto walked and scored on Schyler Arakaki’s single.

Both teams threatened soon after, but to no avail.

Kauai got back-to-back two-out singles from Allianic and Sakamoto in the third, but Jahns got Arakaki to fly out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the third, St. Anthony’s Aronne Santos tripled to the wall with two outs, but was stranded when Jordan Kahalekai-Bermoy grounded out.

Travis Koga doubled for the Red Raiders with one out in the fourth, but was left at second base when Jahns got Lanan Rice-Kashima and Dustin Prem to both ground out to shortstop Kahalekai-Bermoy.

Kauai threatened again in the seventh when Aaron Soong smacked a one-out, ground-rule double to left field. He was left at second after Jahns again got two straight groundouts to end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Rodriguez singled with one out. After Buta Wilhelm-Ioane flied out, the St. Anthony fans rose to their feet as Matt McCraney stepped in. When Buster recorded his eighth strikeout, the Kauai faithful went crazy and the team streamed onto the field.

The top-seeded Red Raiders (14-1), who have wins over Iolani, Saint Louis and Kamehameha Oahu this year, proved themselves to be the class of the first D-II state baseball tournament, outscoring their three opponents 19-0.

‘‘No way I thought one run was going to hold up,’’ Ibia said. ‘‘I didn’t think we would be able to hold them. I really thought it was going to be a shootout after we got that first run.’’

Buster faced just 24 batters and after Santos’ triple, he faced just 14, one over the minimum. He was helped by a pickoff of Wilhelm-Ioane at first base with two outs in the fourth and when catcher Rice-Kashima nailed Kahalekai-Bermoy trying to steal second base after the Red Raiders’ lone error in the sixth.

‘‘I was just trying to throw strikes because I have a lot of confidence in my defense,’’ Buster said. ‘‘I knew if I threw strikes my defense would back me up. This means a lot to be the first team to win a Division II state title. We made history.’’

He acknowledged that when he looked at the Trojans lineup, he was concerned, a feeling that grew when he saw his teammates face Jahns.

‘‘I was worried because they are really big,’’ the 5-foot-9, 145-pounder said. ‘‘(Jahns) was really tough and they have a great defense. He threw strikes and he is a really good pitcher. He has a great fastball and a curveball that breaks a lot.’’

Jahns said he was somewhat dumbfounded that the fourth-seeded Trojans (13-3), who scored 20 runs in their first two games at the tournament, had trouble at the plate.

‘‘No way did I think our bats would get shut down,’‘ said Jahns, who is headed to Northwestern University on a baseball scholarship in the fall. ‘‘I felt confident, I knew my defense would back me up. I thought we could get a state championship, but I guess I was wrong.’’

Dudoit said he is looking forward to next year even as he mentioned that he had heard that some players intend to change schools under the new state transfer rule.

The Trojans’ state final appearance came a season after the school’s first overall MIL pennant in 29 years. The Trojans, still in search of the school’s first state team title in any sport, lose four seniors, but only Jahns and catcher Aaron Uehara are starters.

‘‘We have a lot of kids coming back and if kids decide to transfer we wish them the best of luck,’’ Dudoit said. ‘‘I have heard the rumors, but I feel we have done good things at St. Anthony. There are things we can control and things we can’t control. We will worry about the things we can control and we will be back strong next year.

‘‘We are most worried about the game of life and if we raise these kids right, we will be fine.’’

• Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com

Kauai 100 000 0—1 8 1

St. Anthony 000 000 0—0 3 0

David Jordan Buster and Lanan Rice-Kashima. Michael Jahns and Aaron Uehara. W—Buster. L—Jahns. 3B—St. Anthony, Aronne Santos. 2B—Kauai, Aaron Soong, Travis Koga.

All-Tournament Teams

DIVISION?II

Most Outstanding Player—David Jordan Buster, Kauai.

P—Michael Jahns, St. Anthony; Blaise Kise, Kohala; Colby Lee, Kalaheo.

C—Aukai Rawlins, Molokai.

1B—Schyler Arakaki, Kauai.

2B—Ryan Rodriguez, St. Anthony.

3B—Trent Allianic, Kauai.

SS—Scottie Rapanot Jr., Molokai.

OF—Aaron Soong, Kauai; Aronne Santos, St. Anthony; Buta Wilhelm-Ioane, St. Anthony.

Util—Kaden Tabil, Molokai.

DIVISION?I

Most Outstanding Player—Reece Kiriu, Punahou

P—Jeremy Fujimoto, Punahou; Kamakani Usui, Saint Louis; Joshua Saio, Saint Louis.

C—Zachary Kometani, Punahou.

Inf—Keenan Komeiji, Waiakea; Jared Iha, Kailua; T.J. Bae Jr., Roosevelt; Russell Doi, Mid-Pacific Institute.

OF—Russell Kackley, KS Hawaii; Tamatoa DeMello, Saint Louis; Tyler Young, Punahou.

DH—Moses Samia, Saint Louis

Util—Kolten Wong, KS Hawaii.