Momentum was lost and things looked bleak for the Punahou baseball team yesterday.

But, like the championship team they are, the Buffanblu found a way to turn the tide and knock off Saint Louis.

Punahou scored eight runs over the final two innings to beat Saint Louis, 11-9, in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu double-elimination tournament at Ala Wai field.

Punahou, the four-time defending state champion, took a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but Saint Louis scored eight from the third through fifth.

"It's a credit to our kids," said Punahou coach Eric Kadooka. "They didn't say die. Kept battling and kept coming back."

Punahou, ranked No. 4 in The Advertiser's Top 10 poll, improved to 11-5-1 overall and 3-0 in the tournament. It will play Friday against Tuesday's Saint Louis-Kamehameha winner.

No. 1 Saint Louis fell to 16-2 and 2-1.

The Buffanblu scored five runs in the sixth to tie the game at 8. The Crusaders, who earned a state tournament berth by winning the ILH regular-season title, committed three errors in the inning and all the runs were unearned.

"Give up five, six outs an inning, they're going to beat us," said Saint Louis coach Duane Fraticelli.

In the seventh, Punahou took the lead on Tyler Young's RBI double to left. Reece Kiriu and Matthew Suiter added RBI singles in the inning as Punahou took an 11-8 advantage.

"0-2, I was just trying to sit off-speed and go back to basics and stuff like that," said Young, who said he hit a curveball. "Keeping my hands in and looking off-speed and adjusting to the fastball."

Kiriu, the third Buffanblu reliever, loaded the bases in the seventh with no outs. He got a run-scoring fielder's choice, strikeout, then fielded a comebacker and tossed it to first to end the game.

The Crusaders had two runners thrown out at the plate and another picked off.

"All those are momentum shifts for us," Kadooka said.

PUNAHOU (11-5-1, 3-0) 300 005 3—11 13 0

SAINT LOUIS (16-2, 2-1) 002 150 1— 9 10 3

Paul Snieder, Jeremy Fujimoto (5), Jacob Ellis (5), Reece Kiriu (6) and Zach Kometani. Kamakani Usui, Josh Saio (6), Chris Chung (7) and Keoni Haina. W — Kiriu. L — Saio.

Leading hitters — Punahou: Matt Suiter 2-3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs; Josh Bninski double, 2 RBIs; Snieder 2-3; Jordan Honjiyo 2 runs; Jeeter Ishida 2-4, double, 2 runs; Tyler Young 2-4, double, 3 RBIs. Saint Louis: Moses Samia 3 runs; Cole Shidaki 2-3, double, 2 RBIs; Marcus Kimura 2-4, triple, 3 RBIs; Keoni Haina 2 RBIs.

Reported by Gail Juan

WARRIORS STAY ALIVE

The Kamehameha baseball team finally found a way to close out a close game yesterday.

And the Warriors did so by taking things to the ultimate limit against host Mid-Pacific.

Piikea Kitamura's two-run homer highlighted a four-run third inning, and Mid-Pacific left the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh as Kamehameha held on for a 6-5 win.

"We wanted to show we're better than what we showed in the regular season," said Kamehameha coach Vern Ramie, who was ejected in the top of the seventh for arguing a call. "We're trying to live for another day and play another game."

Kamehameha improved to 9-8-1 overall and 3-1 in the tournament.

No. 2 Mid-Pacific fell to 15-4 and 2-2. The Owls can still qualify for the state tournament if Kamehameha loses Tuesday to Saint Louis.

Mid-Pacific had three runs in in the seventh, and loaded the bases with two outs against reliever Kainoa Toriki.

Toriki, who replaced starter Alika Pruett earlier in the inning after the first three batters reached, got the Owls' lead-off hitter to ground one back to him. Toriki knocked it down, picked it up and fired to first to end the game.

"I must say it was probably one of the most exciting things," Toriki said. "I went off over here, dancing and doing everything crazy."

Ramie said the Warriors had suffered four losses and a tie this season by blowing late leads. The late-inning defeats include a 5-4 loss to Mid-Pacific on April 2 when Kamehameha allowed four runs in the seventh.

"Early part of the season, we got into situations like this and we wouldn't be able to close out the game," Ramie said.

Mid-Pacific stranded eight runners over the first five innings, and grounded into double plays in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings against Pruett.

"Stupid coaching. That's what it is," said Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru. "Just stupid coaching. We didn't do what we do normally."

KAMEHAMEHA (9-8-1, 3-1) 104 001 0 — 6 14 3

MID-PACIFIC (15-4, 2-2) 110 000 3 — 5 6 0

Alika Pruett, Kainoa Toriki (7) and Keanu Carmichael. Dylan Tawata, Kase Kaneko (3), Gavin Kinoshita (4), Robert Dittrick (7) and Aaron Fujiki. W — Pruett. L — Tawata. S — Toriki.

Leading hitters—Kamehameha: Piikea Kitamura 3-4, double, homer, 2 RBIs; Arlie Johnson 2-3, 2 RBIs; Ula Nakamura 2-4; Kalei Hanawahine 3-4. Mid-Pacific: Easton Torigoe 2-4, 2 doubles; Mikey Nagamine 2 RBIs.