Bears clinch regular season baseball title

By Fred Guzman

It wasn’t the most dominant of performances by Baldwin ace Brysen Dafun, but the right-hander received more than enough offensive support to go the distance in a 9-4 win over Kamehameha-Maui last night.

The victory enabled Baldwin to clinch the MIL Division-I regular-season title with a 10-0 mark and assured the state’s third-ranked baseball team of a berth in the state tournament.

The loss dropped Kamehameha’s record to 6-4 – a full four games behind the Bears with two games left in the MIL campaign.

The two teams meet again at 3:30 today and 6 p.m. Saturday. Both games will be aired on Maui’s ESPN 550.

Dafun, the reigning MIL player of the year, allowed eight hits over seven innings and also helped his own cause with a pair of doubles.

Kamehameha actually trailed by just one run, 5-4, late in the game before Baldwin erupted for four runs in the top of sixth to seal the deal.

In other MIL action yesterday, King Kekaulike followed up on a 12-2 romp past Lahainaluna on Wednesday by defeating the Lunas 9-2 in the opener of a twinbill at Iron Maehara Stadium.

Molokai leads the Division-II standings with a 5-1 record. Seabury Hall is second at 4-2 and defending champion St. Anthony is third at 2-4 with Lanai in the cellar at 1-5.