2-6-5.
It may never happen again in years. Decades. The last time Kirt Miyahira saw it, he was a coach at Mililani.
Yet, his ‘Iolani Raiders work on the unusual defensive play fairly often. On Wednesday, clinging to a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning at Mid-Pacific, the Raiders were ready. Mostly ready.
Runners at second and first, one out. The potential tying run. The potential winning run. Jake Comeaux squares up to bunt. His attempt send the baseball 10 feet into the air between home plate and the mound. Pitcher Brayden Hiraki tells his catcher, Josh Miyazawa to let it land on the grass. Miyazawa then fires a throw to second base for a forceout, and shortstop Tate Shimao throws the ball to third baseman Kody Watanabe for the tag on baserunner Draven Nishida.
Ball game.
“We practice it often. At first, they were a little confused. When we actually go through it, it makes a little more sense,” Miyahira said. “It’s crazy how it happened, and the four-man outfield actually worked.”
(Note: Upon further review, the ball was closer to 20 feet in the air than 10, and the Raiders patiently made the right decision to let it drop.)
2 on, 1 out for Mid-Pacific, bot 7th, down 5-4. Sac bunt popped up, ‘Iolani turns it into a 2-6-5 DP to end the game. @Iolani_Raiders @mpisports @HawaiiPrepWorld pic.twitter.com/LgqFU3V7oH
— Paul Honda (@PupulePaul) April 14, 2021
Yeah. That oddball shift that is more common in the major leagues than high school baseball, maybe the trend is starting here.
“We do it for certain batters with nobody on,” Miyahira said. It was (Kennedy) Hara. We were trying to stay away from the double, the extra-base hit. Luckily, it worked out.”
Hara flew out to center when ‘Iolani employed the shift, moving second baseman Colby Ching to right field. Hara went 0-for-3 with a walk.
“We’ve been doing it over the summer a little bit. We mess around with a lot of shifts,” Miyahira said.
Ching, he added, now takes fly-ball reps with the outfielders.
For Mid-Pacific, a plethora of missed opportunities — six runners left on base in the final three innings, missed bunts, baserunning miscues — doesn’t detract from the reality. The Owls still had plenty of chances to win. Strand 10 runners in a one-run loss. Keep the chin up.
“Everything,” Owls coach Dunn Muramaru said, “is correctible.”
(See the game story in Wednesday’s Star-Advertiser.)
At Damon Field
‘Iolani (1-0) 003 020 0 — 5 7 0
Mid-Pacific (0-1) 020 002 0 — 4 7 1
Zach Tenn, Brayden Hiraki (6) and Brock Makishima, Josh Miyazawa (5). Cayden Okada, Nick Soma (3), Kodey Shojinaga (4) and Mack Higuchi. W—Tenn. L—Okada.
Leading hitters—‘Iolani: Jaden Arakaki 2-4, double, RBI, 2 runs; Tate Shimao 1-2, HR, RBI, run, walk; Jaron Yoshikane 2-3, HBP; Jonah Velasco 1-4, triple, run. MPI: Travis Ito 2-3, RBI, run, walk.
Squeeze bunt by Kolby Fujii helps @mpisports cut the lead to 5-4, bot 6th. @Iolani_Raiders @HawaiiPrepWorld pic.twitter.com/2A3QIw2gPc
— Paul Honda (@PupulePaul) April 14, 2021
Rare play but basic rule overlooked by Mid-Pac. First the ball wasn’t 10 feet in the air like Paul falsely claimed, it was at least 30 feet in the air which likely lead the base runners to believe the “in-field fly” rule would be called. But a bunt cannot be ruled an in-field fly no matter how high the ball goes. Good job Iolani bad job Coach No Funn.
Not sure about falsely claiming anything. This isn’t property insurance.
It wasn’t 30 feet up, but not 10 either. More like 20. And felt like an eternity.