Isagawa captures state golf crown

By Fred Guzman

MauiNow.com

When Cassy Isagawa ran away with the MIL individual girls’ golf title, some observers around the state attributed her dominance to a lack of competition on Maui. Wrong.

Yesterday, she followed up her opening-round 73 with a 74 over the challenging Palmer Course at Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu’s North Shore to register a one-stroke victory over Kelli Oride of Kauai High for the state championship.

Iolani’s Marrissa Chow and Punahou’s Alina Chang tied for third, three shots off the pace.

Isagawa’s efforts helped Baldwin to a second-place finish in the team standings for the second straight year. Punahou took top honors 455, eight shots better than the Bears and 22 ahead of Waiakea.

In the boy’s tournament, Kamehameha-Maui’s Aaron Kunimoto finished at 146 for third place. Campbell’s Rudy Cabalar and Kamehameha-Hawaii’s Nainoa Calip completed the regulation 36 holes at 141, with Cabalar winning the playoff after one hole.

Punahou took the boy’s team title by eight strokes over Moanalua. Baldwin finished fifth and Lahainaluna sixth.

Fourth-seeded Lahainaluna opens its bid in the state water polo tournament today, facing Roosevelt in a 3:15 p.m. quarterfinal match at the Central Oahu Regional Park. Roosevelt advanced with a 15-2 rout of Kealakehe.

STATE BASEBALL: With Maui High suffering a 5-0 loss to Mid-Pacific in yesterday’s opening round, it’s now up to Baldwin to keep alive the MIL’s title hopes going into today’s quarterfinal round of the Wally Yonamine Foundation state baseball tournament.

The Bears (24-4) will be facing Campbell in tonight’s 7 o’clock marquee game at Iron Maehara Stadium. Campbell (18-6) advanced with a 4-3 win over OIA rival Moanalua.

The three other quarterfinal games also provide intriguing matchups.

At 11:30, fourth-seeded Hilo (15-2) tangles with Mid-Pac (23-7), which rode a two-hit, 10-strikeout outing by lefty Lawrence Chew to subdue the Sabers, who were held without a hit until Dane Oshio hit a big-hop single over the second baseman’s head with two outs in the sixth.

Maui High’s Alika Aheong worked in and out of trouble for most of the evening before the Owls put away the game with a four-run, two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth. The loss relegated the Sabers (16-8) to Friday’s 8:30 a.m. consolation game against Mililani.

At 2 p.m., top-seeded Pearl City brings a 28-0-1 mark against sixth-time defending state champ Punahou (19-7-1), which needed five innings to rout Mililani 12-0. At 4:30, second-seeded Saint Louis (26-4) faces Kailua, which is coming off a 6-1 win oveer Kaiser.

Meantime, St. Anthony is competing in the D-II tournament on Oahu, facing Konawaena at 2 o’clock.

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: Tennis began a three-day run on today in Kona and the judo championships will be held Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center on the University of Hawaii campus.

Next week, the softball championships will be held at Rainbow Wahine Stadium. Baldwin and Lahainaluna will represent the MIL, with the Lady Bears posting a dramatic 4-3 win in yesterday’s playoff game at Patsy Mink Field on the Maui High campus. Tayler Shimizu drove in the winning run on a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh.

The boy’s volleyball D-I and D-II events will be held at various high school gyms on Oahu. And the track and field meet will be hosted by Kamehameha-Kapalama.