Ashley Smith's single to center field scored pinch runner Britnee Vierra from third base with no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night to lift St. Francis to a 4-3 softball victory over 'Iolani and its first Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I championship in any sport.

A crowd of about 300 at Kamamalu Field watched the Troubadours (12-3) secure the ILH's top seed and a first-round bye in next week's state tournament. 'Iolani (11-4) earned the league's second berth and begins state tournament play on Wednesday.

"This is a great thing for our school," said Troubadours coach Mark Glushenko, who added all-girls St. Francis has about 300 students in grades 9-12. "For any small school like ours, something like this is really big."

The Troubadours won the Division II state title two years ago, then moved up in classification and took second in the ILH last season. They appeared comfortably headed toward this year's crown until last week, when a second straight loss dropped them into a tie for first place with 'Iolani.

The two teams ended the regular season tied with 11-3 records, forcing Friday's winner-take-all playoff.

St. Francis took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning after an RBI double by Kaylin Lee and Jandee Taira's run-scoring single to left.

The Raiders quickly cut the lead in half in the fifth when Kryn Masutani scored on sister Kaz Masutani's double to left-center.

The Troubadours went up 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth after Ulu Reyes' single to center scored Smith from second base.

But 'Iolani tied the game 3-3 in the top of the sixth inning after two runs scored on a throwing error. An attempted squeeze bunt failed, but a throw to try to catch Kai Masutani at home skipped off her batting helmet and into the St. Francis bench area, allowing two runners to score.

Smith's two-out double — the Troubadours' 10th hit of the game — gave them a chance to win it in the seventh, but she was stranded by a pop-up to second, sending it into extra innings.

"We had a lot of hits, but we couldn't advance the runners and bring them home," said Smith, who was 4 for 5 with a double to lead St. Francis' 13-hit attack. "It was getting a little frustrating, but I had a feeling we would pull it off."

They did, but not before the Raiders threatened in the eighth and ninth innings. Lauren Oyadomari led off the eighth with a single to left, and pinch runner Dayna Jandoc advanced to second on Kai Masutani's groundout and to third on Tara Odo's single to center. But another squeeze attempt failed, and this time Jandoc was tagged out at third in the ensuing rundown. The Troubadours then got a groundout to third to end the inning.

"That was a bad decision on my part," 'Iolani coach Chris Shimabukuro said of the squeeze attempt. "They were smart and anticipated it. We had our chances, but give them credit, they made outstanding plays on defense."

The Raiders had another opportunity in the ninth, when Jana Tokuhama led off with an infield single and went to second on an errant throw. She advanced to third on Kryn Masutani's sacrifice bunt, but was stranded after two groundouts to second.

St. Francis finally won it in the bottom of the ninth after leadoff batter Sasha Koki was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on Alisha Sakamoto's bunt single and to third on Keala Bertulfo's seeing-eye single to left.

Smith then stroked a 1-0 pitch to center, easily scoring Vierra.

'IOLANI (11-4) 000 012 000 — 3 9 0

ST. FRANCIS (12-3) 000 210 001 — 4 13 3

NO OUTS WHEN WINNING RUN SCORED

Britney Guro, Kelly Imada (4) and Kai Masutani; Brittney Akana, Kayla Sakamoto (7), Akana (8) and Ashley Smith. W — Akana. L — Imada.

Leading hitters — 'Iolani: Kai Masutani 2-3; Tara Odo 2-4, double; Lauren Oyadomari 2-4; Kaz Masutani double. St. Francis: Smith 4-5, double, RBI; Ulu Reyes 2-4, RBI; Alisha Sakamoto 2-5, double; Keala Bertulfo 2-5.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.