By Wes Nakama
In a stunning and inspiring ascension, Mid-Pacific held off visiting Kamehameha, 2-1, on Wednesday afternoon to climb atop the ILH baseball standings.
Payton Dixon pitched a four-hitter with four strikeouts and one walk, and the Owls scored both of their runs in the bottom of the fifth inning as MPI won its fifth straight game and improved to 8-3, good for sole possession of first place. The defending state champion Warriors, who took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, fell to 8-3 and into a three-way tie for second with ‘Iolani and Saint Louis.
It has been an unlikely but admirable climb for Mid-Pacific, which abruptly lost 12 players for the season in mid-February due to disciplinary action. Kamehameha coach Daryl Kitagawa said the resilience is a testament to Owls coach Dunn Muramaru, who is in his 38th year at the MPI helm.
“Absolutely, he is a Hall of Fame coach for a reason,” Kitagawa said. “I look up to him, he is a mentor for me and I’m sure for a lot of other coaches out there. I have the utmost respect for him. I had no doubt in my mind that he was going to get these kids to play for him. That’s what he does, and that’s what we all try to do. Hat’s off to Coach Dunn, he’s a great person and obviously a great coach.”
Wednesday’s game at Damon Field was a prime example of Mid-Pacific’s sustained excellence under Muramaru, who has guided the Owls to five state championships and even more ILH titles since 1990.
Kamehameha took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning after Jace Souza reached on a two-out walk, stole second and then raced all the way home when the throw to second sailed and then rolled into a gap in left-center field. But the Owls did not allow another runner into scoring position the rest of the way. Catcher Noah Kubo threw out a would-be stealer twice, and another runner was thrown out at second after a pickoff move to first.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Coen Goeas led off with a single to center, advanced to third on Chandler Murray’s double off the right field fence and then scored when the throw to third was off line and bounced to the MPI dugout wall. Murray, who had advanced to third on that error, then scored on Kubo’s sacrifice fly to right.
In the meantime, Dixon was steady if not spectacular in holding the dangerous Warriors lineup in check. He allowed only three base runners over the final four innings, and induced five fly ball outs in the final three frames.
“He pitched unreal, he was even better than in the Saint Louis game (a five-hitter with only one earned run on March 26),” Muramaru said. “I mean, he did what he had to do. He was getting his curveball over, and he was commanding both sides of the plate.”
Dixon, a senior left-hander who has signed to play for Nevada next season, said his curve and change-up were keys to the victory.
“My goal, my objective up there was just to keep hitters off-balanced, work ahead and stay ahead in the count so I could have control over the game,” Dixon said. “I give all the credit to my defense, they played a solid game and had my back, 100 percent. It was a great team win, a great effort by everybody.”
The three Kamehameha runners who got aboard in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings were each promptly erased on attempted steals.
“That was huge,” Dixon said. “Controlling the run game was a big thing today.”
Dixon said losing the 12 teammates in February was devastating, but the remaining players found a way to stick together and regroup.
“With everything going on, it was like a roller coaster, it was tough,” Dixon said. “We just had to stay together like a family, this is my family here … but I think it 100 percent made us stronger, as a team, as a family. We’ve got each other’s back. Obviously we were all bummed, but we had to move on.”
Muramaru said it was a steady step-by-step process getting to this point.
“The expectations weren’t real high (at first), then they got a little better, we raised the bar … we won some games, and then the bar gets raised again,” Muramaru said. “I give credit to these kids, they’re trying their best. We go ‘team first,’ that’s our (approach).”
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