On this day in 1983, Iolani went against what had worked all year to win the state baseball title.
The Raiders had been known as a small-ball team until the state final against Castle, when coach Les Uyehara took the reigns off.
Iolani didn’t bunt a single time and banged out 10 hits against stellar Knights starter Ross Sakamoto. Sakamoto was unbeaten in his state career and had thrown 109 pitches in a semifinal win over Aiea the day before. He threw 130 pitches against Iolani, giving him 239 in two days.
A year later Sakamoto was pitching for California in the Pac-10.
Dean Yonamine nursed Cary Nagano through his first career complete game and had two extra-base hits with the bat. Derrick Oyama added a triple and a home run at Aloha Stadium.
Omg that’s my father lol