Bears secure MIL title
Defending state champs punch ticket back to state tournament with 2-1 victory over Sabers
WAILUKU — When Shane Dudoit finally had a chance to take a deep breath, the smile quickly returned to his face in front of a packed house on Friday at Maehara Stadium.
For the second game in a row, Dudoit’s Baldwin High School baseball team was tested by crosstown rival Maui High. Unlike their first loss of the season Tuesday, the Bears rode the four-hit pitching of senior transfer Ekolu Watanabe to a 2-1 win.
The defending state champions improved to 10-1 in the Maui Interscholastic League, clinching the regular-season title and a state berth. The Sabers are 8-3 — the teams finish their regular-season slate today.
“You know, I’d like to thank our general manager Theo Epstein,” Dudoit joked, referencing the GM of the Chicago Cubs. “In the offseason, we traded Jon Viela for Ekolu Watanabe and I think we ended up OK.”
Watanabe transferred from Kamehameha Maui to his home district public school, while Viela went from teacher and coach who guided the Bears to the 2016 state title to athletic director at Kamehameha.
“He’s tough,” Dudoit said of Watanabe. “We stuck to our game plan today, we were able to get ahead of guys and take control of the game, which we weren’t able to do the other night (in a 5-2 loss).”
Watanabe needed just 84 pitches, facing 24 batters. He struck out seven and walked none.
“I was hoping to go into a situation where it’s a big game for us,” said Watanabe, who plans to continue his career next year for Ventura (Calif.) Junior College. “I just wanted that big-time shot.”
After falling behind early, the Bears took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth.
With runners on first and third and one out, Bobby Drayer popped out on a bunt before the Bears forced the issue when Bubba Hoopii-Tuionetoa took off on a delayed steal attempt from first base. Maui High pitcher Mikito Barkman threw the ball into center field, allowing Nigel Mayfield to score from third.
“I wanted to force it into their hands,” Dudoit said. “We’re the visiting team, we don’t get to bat in the bottom of the seventh. I’ve got to try to get ahead as early as possible. I don’t have the luxury of being the home team.”
The Sabers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI triple by Bryant Nakagawa that scored Kao Mindoro, who singled with two outs. Nakagawa’s blast got over the head of Hoopii-Tuionetoa in center.
The Bears tied the game in the second. Mayfield was hit by a pitch to lead off, was sacrificed to second by Cade Kalehuawehe and scored on a single to right field by Hoopii-Tuionetoa.
The Sabers saw their chances at the regular-season title evaporate under curveballs, changeups and fastballs from Watanabe.
“It’s very tough, guys are going to step up on both sides, and it’s going to be a tight game no matter what,” Maui High coach Chase Corniel said. “Watanabe pitched well, he worked ahead and threw strikes and kept us off-balance. Nothing we could do, we tried to put good at-bats against him, but he was tough today.”
* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com
Baldwin 010 100 0–2 6 0
Maui High 100 000 0–1 4 2
Ekolu Watanabe and Cade Kalehuawehe; Mikito Barkman, Micah Jio (5) and Bryant Nakagawa. W–Watanabe. L–Barkman. 3B–Maui High: Nakagawa.
Leading hitter–Baldwin: Bubba Hoopii-Tuionetoa 2-3, RBI.