Marcus Yoshii showed yesterday he is the rare blend of youth with command of the strike zone.

Yoshii pitched a two-hitter with no walks and six strikeouts as the East team beat the West, 3-2, in the Cal Ripken (ages 13-15) State Tournament at Central O'ahu Regional Park.

Yoshii, a left-hander, threw 52 of his 69 pitches for strikes, and both runs against him in the seventh were unearned.

"Marcus had command of the strike zone," said East coach Eric Kadooka. "He was able to get ahead of the hitters primarily with fastballs, and he mixed it up in the later innings with off-speed stuff. He just threw a ton of strikes and our defense made some plays for him."

The East swept the best-of-three series and qualified for the Pacific Southwest Regional, July 25 to Aug. 2 at El Segundo, Calif. The East defeated the West, 3-1, Saturday night.

The East team has six players each from Punahou and Pearl City, two from Saint Louis and one from Campbell, according to Kadooka.

Yoshii allowed a one-out single with one out in the first then retired 17 straight before a fielding error by his third baseman to open the seventh. He didn't have a two-ball count on any batter until the sixth.

"The outside fastball was really working good. It was really tailing today," said Yoshii, who will be a sophomore at Punahou in the fall. "The inside fastball I didn't really go there too much because I don't throw that hard. I was just sticking with the outside pitch and I was depending on my tail so they didn't really hit it too hard, and the curveball was working really good today, too."

The East took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on Sumi Pruett's opposite-field two-run single to right.

"He was just trying to make contact and it found a hole and those two runs were pretty big for us," Kadooka said.

Kini Enos added a run-scoring double to left-center in the fifth for the East.

The 3-0 lead seemed safe heading into the top of the seventh with Yoshii in control, but the East's defense let the West back into the game.

The fielding error, a single and another error (throwing) on the third baseman allowed a run to score and put runners at the corners. A sacrifice fly plated another run, but Yoshii got a fly out to right and a foul out to the catcher to end it.

"I really wasn't pressuring out too much," Yoshii said of the seventh. "In my mind, I just wanted to take it pitch by pitch, hitting my spots and keeping them off-balance."

Yoshii was on the Punahou junior varsity team last season before being promoted to Kadooka's varsity squad late in the year.

"He's one of our key guys (this summer)," Kadooka said. "For his age, his maturity and development this year was probably key. He was able to pitch very well in the junior varsity season."

West coach Rob Kahana was proud his team came back in the final inning. He said most of his players were from Campbell High.

"'Ewa Beach, they have a bunch of fighters," Kahana said. "They are not going to quit. They tried their best and they never gave up."

Through the first five innings, the West only got one ball out of the infield (the first-inning single to left). All of Yoshii's strikeouts came during the first four innings.

"He pitched a helluva game today," Kahana said of Yoshii. "He kept us on our toes. He gave us nothing that we could hit."

West right-hander Josh Nakamura scattered eight hits in a complete-game performance. He walked one and struck out one.

The West team also had players from Kamehameha, Wai'anae, Moanalua and Damien, according to Kahana.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser. com or 525-8041.

WEST 000 000 2—2 2 3

EAST 000 210 X—3 8 2

Josh Nakamura and Brandon Damas. Marcus Yoshii and Sumi Pruett. W — Yoshii. L — Nakamura.

Leading hitters: East—Kini Enos 2-3, 2 doubles; Alakai Aglipay 2-3, double; Kale Kaalekahi double; Pruett 2-3, 2 RBIs.