WAILUKU — Down two runs with just three outs to work with, the Baldwin High School baseball team was staring at the unthinkable for its program — missing the state tournament for a second straight season.

The Bears, ranked sixth in the Advertiser's statewide poll of coaches and media, found what they needed, however — clutch hitting efforts from a pair of sophomores and a nine-inning pitching performance from senior Skyler Cabacungan — to pull out a 4-3 win over Kamehameha-Maui on Friday at Maehara Stadium in a Maui Interscholastic League Division I tournament semifinal and secure a state tournament berth.

Cabacungan, a 5-foot-7, 145-pound right-hander making the first start on the mound of his high school career, was dominant in a five-hitter. He struck out 13 batters, walked four and hit two.

Sophomore Neil Morioka's RBI single won the game in the bottom of the ninth after sophomore Jordan Negrini's two-run single in the seventh sent it to extra innings.

Cabacungan's longest pitching performance before Friday was 3 2/3 innings during a 7-5 loss to Maui last week.

Friday, he simply got stronger as the game wore on. He struck out the side in the eighth, giving him five in a row and seven in a span of nine batters.

''Oh my gosh, what can I say about Skyler?'' Baldwin coach Jon Viela said to The Maui News. ''He wanted the ball. He didn't want to come out. I checked his pitch count, I checked with our coaches, and finally I checked with him. He flat-out said, 'This is my game.' He showed us he wanted it.''

Cabacungan, the regular center fielder and frequent reliever, said he couldn't have asked for a better first start on the mound. His pitch count reached 120 in the final inning.

''I never did start before, but coach asked me as a senior what I wanted to do and I wanted to start,'' Cabacungan said. ''I just went out there and trusted my defense. We won as a team. Coach said, 'Persevere, believe and clutch up.' ''

No one was more important with a bat than the 5-7, 120-pound Mori-oka, who hit a grounder through a drawn-in infield to bring in Jarin Hayase in the bottom of the ninth.

''I just wanted to put the ball in play and drive him in,'' said Morioka, who was 3-for-4 with a run and the game-winning RBI. ''When I hit it I thought it was right at the second baseman. I guess it just found its way through. That is definitely the biggest hit I have ever had.''

The win pushed Baldwin (11-3) into the tournament final tonight at 6 p.m. against regular-season champion and ninth-ranked Maui (12-2), which can wrap up its first MIL title since 1998 with a win.

A Baldwin victory would force a playoff for the overall MIL pennant on Monday.

If Kamehameha had won Friday and then defeated Maui, the Warriors would have joined the Sabers at states.

''That was a heck of a game,'' said Kamehameha coach Brandon Kanamu, whose team finished 9-4. ''We expected Baldwin to come back, even in the seventh when we had that two-run lead. You just couldn't escape the feeling that they were lurking.''

Baldwin won six consecutive MIL titles from 2001 to 2006, which capped a run of 11 MIL pennants in 16 seasons. After missing the state tournament last season, the Bears were looking right at the possibility of a repeat in the bottom of the seventh, down 3-1, with Kamehameha left-hander Isaiah Kaneakua cruising on the mound.

Hayase beat out an infield single to start the inning, Cabacungan popped out and Morioka singled and advanced to second on an error that left Hayase on third, chasing Kaneakua and bringing on Naea Kalehuawehe.

Negrini, who also went 3-for-4 in the game, delivered both runners with a sharp single up the middle on Kalehuawehe's first pitch. Negrini was then picked off, and Riley Beeson's screaming line drive was caught by third baseman Kelton Kealoha to send the game to extra innings.

Kaneakua, a junior left-hander, allowed three runs — two earned — and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out four.

A week ago, Baldwin was one win away from clinching a state berth with two chances to nail down the regular-season title against Maui. The third time was finally the charm on Friday.

''You know, somebody has to win and somebody has to lose,'' Viela said. ''Kamehameha came out fighting. They are a tough, tough ball club. I told all of the Kamehameha boys to keep their heads up. My guys were just able to get it done, Skyler was amazing, and little Neil Morioka clutched up big time.''

The Warriors took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Jordan Camara doubled to lead off and then scored on Dayton Alexander's triple to the warning track in front of the 370-foot sign in left field. Alexander, however, was stranded at third after Cabacungan struck out Aaron Asato, and got Kaneakua and Kalehuawehe to ground out.

The Bears tied the score in the bottom of the first. Morioka walked with one out, moved to second on a single by Negrini and scored on a double by Beeson that put runners on second and third. Kaneakua got out of trouble from there with a strikeout and a ground out.

The Warriors made the score 3-1 in the third on a two-run double to left by Mason Castillon. Castillon also doubled to lead off the sixth, but was left at third after a sacrifice bunt and two strikeouts.

The Bears had an opportunity to score in the fifth inning, but were denied when Cabacungan was nailed at the plate by a rocket throw from Kealoha and a sturdy block of the plate by Castillon.

Cabacungan took the mound for the top of the sixth with a large bandage on his face that covered most of his left cheek, and finished the game that way.

''It feels good to have a state berth, but we want to win the MIL,'' he said. ''We just have to come out and win again tomorrow. I'm a little sore, but I'll be ready to play Maui High.''

KS-Maui 102 000 000—3 5 2

Baldwin 100 000 201—4 11 2

Isaiah Kaneakua, Naea Kalehuawehe (7) and Mason Castillon. Skyler Cabacungan and Riley Beeson. W—Cabacungan. L—Kalehuawehe.

2B—KSM, Jordan Camara, Castillon 2; B, Beeson. 3B—KSM, Dayton Alexander.

ST. ANTHONY WINS DIVISION II CROWN

Talk about a pitchers duel.

Two of the best in the Maui Interscholastic League — St. Anthony High School's Michael Jahns and Moloka'i's Kaden Tabil — combined to strike out 25 in the league's Division II tournament final on Friday night at Maehara Stadium.

In the end, it was the Trojans (10-2) who collected a 4-1 win and clinched the league's D-II crown one year after they won their first MIL pennant in 29 seasons when there was only one level of play.

Moloka'i fell to 6-7.

''It wasn't pretty,'' St. Anthony coach Shane Dudoit said to The Maui News after his team scored as many runs as it had errors. ''I have got a lot of love for Moloka'i. That is a team that is without its head coach, but Paki (Kamakana, the interim coach) did a great job and they have two legitimate players in Kaden and Scottie (Rapanot Jr.). Both those kids can play at the next level.''

Tabil will take his baseball skills to Utah Valley State in the fall, while Jahns will be at Northwestern. Both pitchers put on a show, while their defenses were combining to commit seven errors.

''We got lucky, really,'' Dudoit said. ''They made some errors that allowed us to score those runs.''

Jahns called his catcher, Aaron Uehara, over for the final interview both seniors would do on the Maehara Stadium turf.

''I felt really good, but the team had my back, the bench had my back, and this guy right here (Uehara) really had my back, just like always,'' Jahns said after pitching a three-hitter with one walk and two hit batsmen.

''It feels weird that this is our last game here,'' Uehara said. ''I was just looking at all the guys having fun and I can't believe that this is it. I just feel so used to this place. Michael was really tough tonight. He was trying some new pitches in the bullpen and he did what he needed to do on the mound.''

Both members of the St. Anthony battery said Tabil was tough as well.

''No one in this league throws quite like Kaden does,'' Uehara said. ''He is a tough pitcher.''

Kamakana, who took over Tuesday when head coach Clarence Loo stepped down Tuesday, said his team just had no answers for Jahns, who struck out at least two in each inning but the seventh, and struck out the side in the third and fifth.

Jahns, last season's MIL Player of the Year, and Tabil, a two-time MIL All-Star, matched zeroes through the first three innings.

The Trojans broke through for three runs in the fourth when Jahns led off with a double and eventually scored on a groundout by Buta Wilhelm-Ioane. Ryan Rodriguez, who walked, and Matt McCraney, who reached on an error, both later scored on an error to make it 3-0.

The Farmers got on the scoreboard with a run on an error in the top of the sixth.

The Trojans finally matched their runs total to their error total in the bottom of the sixth when Rodriguez scored on the front end of a double steal.

Both teams will be at the state tournament at Central O'ahu Regional Park next month.

''St. Anthony is a tough team,'' Kamakana said. ''We just gave them too much with the errors tonight.''

Moloka'i 000 001 0—1 3 3

St. Anthony 000 301 x—4 3 4

Kaden Tabil and Aukai Rawlins. Michael Jahns and Aaron Uehara. W—Jahns. L—Tabil.

2B—SA, Jahns. 3B—M, Joseph Akaka.

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