WAILUKU — Kade Fujioka and Anu Chaves have been working together as battery mates for nearly their entire lives.

The combination worked again for Baldwin High School on Friday afternoon as Fujioka threw a three-hitter with nine strikeouts and just one walk in a complete-game 11-1, six-inning win over Lahainaluna at Maehara Stadium.

The Bears improved to 5-0 in the Maui Interscholastic League Division I ranks, while the Lunas fell to 0-5.

In a loaded league that includes solid teams at Maui High and Kamehameha Maui, Fujioka knows that every win is vital in the 12-game regular season.

“Oh yeah, 100 percent, every win is huge for us,” said Fujioka, a 5-foot-11 senior right-hander. “I kind of struggled at the beginning command-wise, but Anu was helping me out. He gave me some adjustments I needed to make. So I made those adjustments and ended up figuring it out.”

Fujioka is grateful for his senior catcher and close friend.

“Me and him have played together for such a long while and we just have that relationship, you know what I mean?” Fujioka said. “That definitely helps give me a piece of mind when I’m on the mound.”

The Bears took a three-run lead in the first inning.

After the first run scored on a pop-fly error off the bat of Caleb Miyake-Matsubayashi, Jevon Raboy knocked in two runs with a single to left to make it 3-0.

Talan Toshikiyo led off the top of the second for the Lunas with a triple over the head of Baldwin left fielder Jayson Kahaleanu. Troy Branco-Liu drove Toshikiyo in one out later with a single up the middle to make the score 3-1.

Miyake-Matsubayashi singled in a run in the bottom of the third, and Raboy then knocked in Miyake-Matsubayashi with a single up the middle to make it 5-1.

After an error loaded the bases, still with no outs, Kadon Antolin grounded into a 5-2-3 double play, leaving runners at second and third with two outs. Laakea Ko flew out to center to end the inning.

Baldwin’s Isaac Imamura drove in a run with a single to right field in the bottom of the fifth and Ko then doubled home a pair to extend the Bears’ lead to 8-1.

Douglas Mortensen, Imamura and Dylan Wellerstein each drove in runs with singles in the sixth to end the game on the 10-run mercy rule.

Fujioka knows how tough the MIL is, especially with the Lunas getting stronger. Spectrum OC-16 will be in town to televise doubleheaders next Friday and Saturday, both with games slated for 4 and 6:30 p.m.

“This league is tough, we know every series that every game should be a dogfight,” Fujioka said. “So we just have to bring the mentality every game that we have to scrap.”

Baldwin head coach Craig Okita knows that his team has work to do as the MIL nears the midway mark of the regular season. The Bears are now 11-4-1 overall.

“It’s definitely gotten better over the years, the MIL has definitely gotten better — it’s going to be a dogfight, come down to the end,” Okita said. “I mean, King K has been pretty impressive in my opinion. They played us tough for three games.”

Lahainaluna head coach Emmett Markulis said while he has four senior starters, his team is somewhat young. He has the utmost respect for the 12-time defending MIL champion Bears.

“We’re young, we’ve got five or six seniors, four of which play all the time, so we’ve got some leadership, but we are young,” Markulis said. “Baldwin is the class of the league. We look at them as the bar that is set in this league that we want to be like, so playing them and competing against them is a testament to them.”

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com

Lahainaluna 010 000– 1 3 3

Baldwin 302 033–11 13 0

Ty Branco-Gomez, Talan Toshikiyo (5) and Chevus Nahooikaika-Lopes; Kade Fujioka and Anu Chaves. W–Fujioka. L–Branco-Gomez. 2B–Baldwin, Christian Dominno, Laakea Ko. 3B–Lahainaluna, Toshikiyo.

Leading hitters–Baldwin, Jevon Raboy 2-3, 3 RBIs; Isaac Imamura 2-2, run, 2 RBIs.

MIL Baseball Standings

DIVISION I

W L Pct GB

Baldwin 5 0 1.000 —

Maui High 3 0 1.000 1

KS Maui 2 0 1.000 1½

King Kekaulike 0 5 .000 5

Lahainaluna 0 5 .000 5

DIVISION II

W L Pct GB

Molokai 7 0 1.000 —

Seabury Hall 5 2 .714 2

Lanai 2 4 .333 4½

Hana 0 8 .000 7½

Friday’s Results

Molokai 3, Lanai 1

Baldwin 11, Lahainaluna 1, 6 innings

Kamehameha Maui 2, King Kekaulike 1

Seabury Hall def. Hana, forfeit

Today’s Games

Lahainaluna vs. Baldwin at Maehara Stadium, 9 a.m.

Molokai at Lanai, 10 a.m.

King Kekaulike vs. Kamehameha Maui at Maehara Stadium, 11 a.m.

Seabury Hall def. Hana, forfeit