After struggling at the plate for for the first six innings, Reece Kiriu got on track in a big way with an RBI single to right field that broke a 7-7 tie in the top of the seventh inning as Punahou broke away from rival Saint Louis, 11-7, to capture the Interscholastic League of Honolulu baseball championship yesterday at Ala Wai Field.

Both teams had already secured berths in next week's state tournament — Saint Louis by virtue of winning the ILH regular-season title and Punahou by seizing the post-season tournament championship — but yesterday's matchup was significant because the winner will likely receive the No. 1 seed in the state tournament and with it a coveted first-round bye.

Punahou, the four-time defending champion, finished third in the regular season but beat Saint Louis, 12-7, on Thursday to win the double-elimination ILH tournament.

"This was just a great championship game and Saint Louis is a great team," said Punahou coach Eric Kadooka. "It's been a long season of ups and downs and you have to play well at the end. It took a team effort today to get the win."

Tyler Young led Punahou, hitting 2 for 4 with a double and two RBI. Zach Kometani also hit 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

The Crusaders were led by Lucas Gonsalves and Moses Samia, who both hit 2-for-2 with an RBI. Tamatoa DeMello added a double and a run.

Pitcher Jeremy Fujimoto earned the win for Punahou after stepping in for Paul Snieder in the fourth. DeMello was credited with the loss.

Young keyed a three-run first inning and the Buffanblu took advantage of a string of Crusader errors to stake a 7-4 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth.

Saint Louis rallied back with a single by Gonsalves and a double by DeMello. Snieder then beaned Danny Higa to load the bases and was replaced by Fujimoto.

Marcus Kimura scored Gonsalves on a grounder and Samia drove home DeMello and Higa with a hard single to right field to tie the game.

But Fujimoto recovered to end the inning, and, with solid defense behind him, kept the Crusaders scoreless the rest of the way.

"I just tried to calm down and relax myself," Fujimoto said. "I took a little bit of time, but I have faith in our defense and I knew our offense would get it done."

That too would take some time.

After two quiet innings, the Buffanblu hitters roared back to life in the seventh.

After notching his decisive single to break the tie, Kiriu advanced to second on a picture-perfect bunt single down the third-base line by Shane Yoshiyama then scored on a single to center field by Samia.

"I was trying to keep the ball in the air," Kiriu said of his game-winning single. "I'd been making solid contact but (the ball) was going right to the guys. I saw it take the high hop and I knew it was good. But I also knew we'd still need some insurance runs."

DeMello then walked Matthew Suiter to load the bases.

Joshua Bninski hit a sacrifice fly to score Yoshiyama and pinch runner Geoffrey Kunita took home on a wild pitch to close the scoring.

Fujimoto struck out the side to end the game.

"Huge," Kadooka said of his junior pitcher's performance in the clutch. "It was a real big test for him to come into the game with the bases loaded and face a tough lineup."

After the game, a frustrated Duane Fraticelli reflected on his Crusader squad's recent run of errant play.

"When we were 16-1 (in the regular season), we were playing error-free ball," Fraticelli said. "We preached defense all year long, but we had 22 errors in the last five games. That's why we're in the situation we're in.

"We folded," Fraticelli said. "We had (Punahou) the last three times we played them but we fell apart on defense. We're better than them. I don't care if they're the four-time defending champs, we're more talented than them. The thing they've got over us is they have more experience."

Saint Louis swept the three regular-season matchups with Punahou, but has dropped three consecutive post-season games to the Buffanblu.

Fraticelli said he expects his team to learn from its mistakes and take advantage of the fresh start the state tournament affords.

"The guys haven't been there so they're going to go to the state tournament and realize that this is something new for them, a new challenge," he said.

PUNAHOU (13-5-1) 312 100 4—11 12 2

SAINT LOUIS (17-4) 022 300 0—7 8 4

Paul Snieder, Jeremy Fujimoto (4) and Zach Kometani. Kamakani Usui, Kyle Gonzaga (3), Tamatoa DeMello (6) and Keoni Haina, Moses Samia (3). W — Fujimoto. L — DeMello.

Reported by Gail Juan