By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com
This one was over before Baldwin ever even came to the plate on Saturday night. Punahou erupted for 10 runs in the top of the first inning and romped to a 13-2 win over the hometown Bears to capture its seventh straight state baseball championship.
It took the Bears three pitchers to get out of the first, silencing a partisan crowd of more than 2,000 at Iron Maehara Stadium.
The loss ended third-seeded Baldwin's season at 26-4, while unseeded Punahou closed out yet another championship campaign at 22-7-1.
Three Baldwin players were named to the all-tournament team: first baseman Brock Shishido, second baseman Kaulana Ching and left-handed pitcher Chase Tokunaga, who was the winning hurler in Baldwin's 5-2 semifinal victory over top-seeded Saint Louis.
Meantime, second-seeded St. Anthony had to settle for a fourth-place finish in the Division-II tournament held concurrently at Hans L'Orange Field in Waipahu. The Trojans opened with a 15-3 rout of Campbell before losing 9-2 to eventual champion Waimea in the semis and 12-3 to HPA in the third-place game.
Named to the D-II all-tourney team were two St. Anthony players: outfielder Trevor Ventura and Jarret Stinger as a utility man.
In water polo, the fourth seeded Lahainaluna girls opened with a 6-5 win over Roosevelt before losing 16-1 to eventual champion Punahou in the semis and 8-4 to Kahuku in the third-place match.
MORE BASEBALL: Baldwin, making its first appearance in the state title game since last winning the championship in 1995, advanced with a 5-2 victory over Saint Louis on Friday night. Punahou defeated Mid-Pacific 4-1 in the other semifinal game. The third-seeded Bears improved their season record to 26-4 behind a three-hit performance by senior left-hander Chase Tokunaga. Punahou (21-7-1) capitalized on senior right hander Alakai Aglipay's arm and bat. In addition to going the distance on the mound, Aglipay also had a pair of hits and drove in a pair of runs.
SOFTBALL: After needing a dramatic playoff victory to capture the MIL overall title, Baldwin is seeded fourth in the state Division-I softball tournament that begins Tuesday at the Rainbow Wahine Stadium.
MIL runnerup Lahainaluna will open its bid in a 3 p.m. game versus Castle, with the winner facing third-seeded Waiakea in Wednesday's 1 p.m. quarterfinal.
Baldwin will tangle against the winner of Punahou vs Kapolei at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
Mililani is the top seed, followed by Mid-Pacific.
In the D-II tourney, Hana is seeded third and meets the winner of Waialua-Kohala at 5 o'clock Wednesday at Central Oahu Regional Park. MIL runnerup Molokai opens versus Kauai High at 5 o'clock Tuesday. Lanai is seeded first, with Waimea second and Konawaena fourth.
VOLLEBYBALL: The boy's D-I volleyball tournaments begin Wednesday on Oahu, with Baldwin seeded fourth.
The Bears draw a first-round by before opening in Thursday's 5 p.m. quarterfinal match at McKinley High. MIL runnerup Lahainalua will face Kamehameha-Kapalama in a 5 p.m. match at Kaimuki High on Wednesday.
The eight-team D-II event begins on Thursday. Third-seeded Seabury Hall will meet Kohala in a 5 p.m. match at Farrington High.
BIG LEAGUES: Oakland LH Dallas Braden registered only the 19th perfect game in ML history yesterday as the A's beat TB 4-0. … Shane Victorino's seventh homer of the season, a solo shot to right in the seventh, helped Philadelphia to a 5-3 win over Atlanta. … Seattle reliever Kanekoa Texeira had the best outing of his rookie season on Friday, pitching two perfect innings in an 8-0 loss to the Angels. … Oakland C Kurt Suzuki could return from the DL as soon as Wednesday's game vs. Cleveland.
NO KOA IKAIKA: The new baseball team in town, Na Koa Ikaika of the Golden Baseball League, opened its pre-season camp yesterday at Iron Maehara Stadium. Four former MIL standouts are bidding for spots on the final 22-player roster: infielders Gered Mochizuki and JJ Pacheco, C Joe Kala and first baseman Ikaika Lester.
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