Saint Louis baseball looks to stay atop the crowded ILH standings

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Halfway through the ILH baseball regular season, four teams have emerged as serious contenders, but the Saint Louis Crusaders stand in the one hole and they plan to keep it that way through the home stretch.

“I think we’re playing good team baseball right now.” Saint Louis infielder Sean Yamaguchi told Hawaii News Now. “We’re getting back to it, so I think if we keep that going, we should be okay.”

The Crusaders currently hold the best record in the ILH — going 7-2-1 through half of the regular season — and just got back into the win column on Tuesday in a 7-1 rout of Maryknoll.

Snapping a mid season skid they were on after tying with ‘Iolani and falling to Mid Pacific.

“It was a tough last week for us, you know, emotionally and these guys are, are, are really good.” Head coach George Gusman said. “We had to do some things to help prepare us and get out of that little funk.”

Now back on track, the team looks to finish the year strong using a collective mentality, something they’ve done all year, especially on the mound.

They lost their ace Spencer Rego to a Tommy John injury at the beginning of the season, but have rallied to stay at the top of the ILH.

“So we have to juggle practices and how much they throw and, you know, to make sure that they’re ready if they’re called upon.” Coach Gusman said “That’s just what it is, it’s just old fashioned high school baseball.”

“We just keep making good plays, make our routine plays, back them up.” Yamaguchi said. “I think we give the pitchers a lot of confidence and that’s the main goal.”

The team knows that even though they’re at the top, no lead is secure, as Mid Pac, Kamehameha and ‘Iolani are all within striking distance.

“You know, no one is safe in the ILH, I think everyone has great players, everyone are great teams.”

Despite the back and forth of league play, the boys from Kalaepohaku still have one thing on their mind.

“You know, we don’t practice, we don’t coach to not get to the State tournament and try to win. That’s always the goal.”

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