Baldwin advances to baseball semis

Baldwin advances to baseball semis

By Fred Guzman

MauiNews.com

Playing before an overflow crowd, the hometown Baldwin Bears crashed what otherwise would have been an all-ILH affair by crushing Campbell 13-2 in just six innings last night to earn a berth in state high school baseball Division-I semifinals.

The third-seeded Bears rode a solid pitching performance by junior right-hander Brysen Dafun and a 13-hit attack, highlighted by James Uweko’olani’s monster three-run homer in the six-run sixth inning for the lopsided victory at Iron Maehara Staddium.

The victory gained Baldwin (25-4) a 4 p.m. date with second-seeded Saint Louis (27-4), which advanced with a 4-2 win over Kailua.

The other semifinal is scheduled for 7 p.m., with six-time defending champion Punahou (20-7-1) tangling with yet another ILH team, Mid-Pacific (24-7).

Punahou pounded previously unbeaten and top-seeded Pearl City, 8-1. Mid-Pac bounced back after squandering a two-run lead in the bottom of the seven to beat fourth-seeded Hilo 8-5 on Ryan Muraoka’s three-run blast in the 10th.

St. Anthony, meantime, also will be taking part in the semifinals after routing Konawaena 15-3 in five innings in the D-II tournament taking place at Hans L’Orange Park in Waipahu.

The second-seeded Trojans will next face third-seeded Waimea at 4 p.m. The Menehune advanced by defeating Waipahu 12-5. In yesterday’s other D-II games, Kamehameha-Hawaii beat Maryknoll 9-5 and Hawaii Prep edged Radford 5-4.

Both baseball tournaments run through Saturday night. Games involving MIL teams will be aired on Maui’s ESPN 550 and via the internet on ESPN550.com.

MORE PREPS: Lahainaluna advanced to the semifinals of the state water tournament by edging Roosevelt 6-5 yesterday the Central Oahu Regional Park aquatic facility. The fourth-seeded Lunas will meet top-seeded Punahou today at at 7 p.m.

The state tennis tournament continues today in Kona, while the judo championships will be held tomorrow at the Stan Sheriff Center on the University of Hawaii campus.