What goes around comes around.
You figure highly successful and cagey Mid-Pacific baseball coach Dunn Muramaru knows a lot of tricks, right?
But how many times do his master ploys come back to haunt him because there are coaches all around the state watching what he does and learning from him — even if he doesn’t know it or acknowledge it.
It happened on Tuesday in a home game, the season opener in this COVID-19-marred season that has taken most Hawaii high school sports completely out of competition. Somehow, some way, ILH baseball found a way to get going.
And ‘Iolani coach Kurt Miyahira took one one out of Muramaru’s book.|
‘Iolani’s Tate Shimao, pictured as a freshman,
hit a two-run homer and made a diving catch
at shortstop in the Raiders’ 5-4 victory over
Mid-Pacific. (Photo by Nick Abramo.)
The sitiuation: the Raiders were clinging to a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh (final) inning with one out and Mid-Pacific had runners on first and second base.
Time for some Muramaru magic? Think again. Jake Comeaux is in a bunting situation, with Muramaru plotting for some base-running havoc and possibly some ‘Iolani panic and mistakes.
But things went awry for the Owls when Comeaux’s bunt popped straight up in the air about 12 feet, and it looked like it was going to be an easy second out. Not quite. Raiders catcher Joshua Miyazawa let the small pop drop and he immediately fired to second for the force out. Shortstop Tate Shimao drilled a throw to third, where Kody Watanabe tagged out a sliding Draven Nishida to end it. It was confirmed after the game that the infield fly rule (which would have been an automatic out) does not come into play on a bunt.
“When I was an assistant coach at Mililani, I saw Dunn do that in a preseason tournament,” Miyahira said about his catcher letting the pop fall. “I got it from Dunn.”
Added Shimao, a junior who has already committed to play for the University of Hawaii baseball team: “We were ready for that. That play we did at the end, we practice it, so we were ready for whatever happened. When it went up in the air, we knew the runners were going to stay at the bags so we could double them up.”
The ideal play, nearly everybody involved, would admit, the textbook play would have been to throw to third first and then on to second for two force outs. But it all worked out.
Still, before the double play, Miyahira wasn’t counting on something like that.
“(Being in the game until the last at-bat) is nothing new for Mid-Paicific,” he said. “Year in, year out, they’re one of the best teams in Hawaii.”
Miyahira also tinkered with using a four-man outfield and it worked well, with Mid-Pacific batters hitting line drives right to the fielders in the alley several times.
Even Muramaru, the sensei, was impressed.
“That was a nice play they made at the end,” the Owls head man said. “That’s the one thing on a bunt. You can’t pop it up.”
Shimao had a 2-for-3 day in the blazing sun at Mid-Pacific in Manoa, including a two-run homer to center in the fifth that gave the Raiders a 5-2 cushion.
“(Teammate) Jadon had a great, long at-bat before me, so he (Mid-Pacific reliever Kodey Shojinaga) left one hanging that came to me,” Shimao said. “I saw it and hit it out.”
‘Iolani starting pitcher, righty Zacary Tenn, went five innings and gave up two earned runs on five hits while striking out six for the win. Brayden Hiraki went two innings for the save.
Owls starter Cayden Okada was the loser, giving up three runs on five hits in two-plus innings.
“We didn’t execute,” was the refrain from Muramaru afterward. “I guess being away from real games, the kids had a hard time with the pressure. We struck out twice with runners on second and third when all we had to do was put the ball in play. Every day we work on it — to put the ball in play. They’ll learn, you know. And hopefully they get better.”
Miyahira gave kudos to Tenn.
“He didn’t have his best stuff, but he kept us in the game and that’s all we can ask.”
Shimao was the subject of a feature two years ago (when Bedrock Sports Hawaii reporter Nick Abramo was with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii Prep World: Freshman Tate Shimao Joins In On ‘Iolani’s Senior Day Fun.
He was a mere up-and-coming first-year player then. Now he’s part of the hear of the squad.
“We only had one practice together as team coming into this game,” said Shimao, who also made a running and diving catch of a looper over second base to rob Mid-Pacific’s Lee Matsuzaki in the first inning. “So we were just going to lay it on the line. And it was fun coming out and giving everything because we never know when it could be our last game.”
As for his future UH days, he added, “I’ll be glad to represent Hawaii and showing what Hawaii is about and how playing the game hard means a lot to me and how important it is for me to be able to stay home and represent my home crowd.”
