Mililani edges Pac-Five, 1-0, to win its first state title
By Wes Nakama
Mililani High School opened in the Fall of 1973 and later established itself as a perennial title contender in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association. But it wasn't until last Saturday that the Trojans could finally call themselves, "State Champions."
Ezra Ugale pitched a four-hitter and Koa Marzo's single to left field brought home the winning run with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Mililani to a tense and thrilling 1-0 victory over Pac-Five for the Wally Yonamine Foundation/HHSAA state title. An on-edge crowd of 1,250 at Les Murakami Stadium watched the Trojans finish the season at 16-2; upstart Pac-Five, participating in their first Division I state tournament, ended an inspiring 2026 campaign at 12-5.
"You know what, it just comes down to what we talk to these guys about every day -- we gotta execute the little things, the details," Mililani coach Mark Hirayama said. "We just needed one more run than they had. It just comes down to the details, and belief in the process."
Little things turned into huge plays in the pivotal bottom of the seventh.
Pinch-hitter Kaiden Ibara led off with a hard-hit infield grounder, and the throw was one-hopped and wide, pulling first baseman Keaka Bennett off the bag. Pinch-runner Jake Nishimoto then advanced to second after a collision between fielders going after Ugale's bunt single, and Nishimoto slid safely into third after beating the throw on Kameron Pongasi's fielder's choice sacrifice bunt.
That loaded the bases with no outs, setting the table for Marzo, a center fielder who batted at the leadoff spot. On the first pitch, Marzo swung and hit a chopper that bounced high and out of the reach of the leaping third baseman, allowing Nishimoto to easily dash home for the winning run.
"My approach was, just put the ball in play, don't do too much and hopefully I could drive in (Nishimoto)," Marzo said. "I think it's just the way the ball bounced. To be honest I didn't even know (it was a single), I just ran it out and then I saw the boys run out (from the dugout). It feels good, though -- first state championship. We all wanted this."
It was a heartbreaking ending for the Wolfpack and their starter and senior ace Colten Amai Nakagawa, who had pitched six shutout innings on two days' rest after tossing four and two-thirds innings in a first-round victory over Kaiser on Wednesday. Amai Nakagawa threw six shutout innings on Saturday, striking out five and walking two.
"You can't ask for a better state championship game than that," Pac-Five coach Reyn Sugai said. "I told the kids, 'You absolutely cannot regret anything, you cannot look at this game and be like, What if?, or If I made that play, or If we got that hit ... Sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce your way, things happen. What this team has done is just absolutely special. It's not just the impact this year, but the impact that's gonna happen down the line."
For Mililani, which had won four of the previous six OIA championships only to fall short in the state tournament, it was yet another battle of attrition.
"Coming in, I knew it was going to be a very close game, (Amai Nakagawa) has a great arm, and we were just ready to compete," said Ugale, a junior right-hander who struck out four and walked two. "There was a lot of pressure, but I just trusted in The Lord, and he guided me through every pitch. Early in the game, I was just going right at 'em with fastballs, so that was my go-to pitch. And then later in the game when I was feeling a little fatigued, I was trying to get my breaking ball over for strikes, I was able to get my curveball over. I wasn't worried about (us) not being able to score runs, we just kept getting runners on and applying that pressure, and came out on top."
Hirayama said despite entering this season as defending OIA champion, there was a lot of rebuilding to do.
"We graduated 20 seniors last year, and we had two returning starters," Hirayama said. "It was just trying to figure out the right combination all year. We had much different lineups. And we're not going to be very good if we don't have good leaders. I tell these guys all the time, 'This is your team, we're just here to help you prepare to play the game, it's up to you guys to go play. So trust in what we do, and just go execute.' "
Photos: Gavin Yasunari
