HONOLULU — The Campbell Sabers (12-2, 11-2) took down the Mililani Trojans (9-6, 7-6), 6-5, to advance to Friday night’s OIA Division I championship game.

Mililani opened the game with a two-out triple but was unable to bring the runner around as Campbell left-handed starter Shaveh Sarono got Aukai-Araujo Waiau swinging to end the inning.

Campbell got the offense going early, as the first three Sabers batters reached base before Ridge Choy smoked one into the left-center field gap for a bases-clearing double to open a 3-0 lead with no outs in the inning.

Choy would come around to score two batters later on a Hunter Lindsey RBI single to right, pushing the Sabers’ lead to four.

Mililani began to chip away at the Campbell lead in the top of the second, using back-to-back walks to start the top of the second, coupled with a Sarono wild pitch, to set up runners on second and third with only one out. 

A sacrifice fly brought home the Trojans’ first run, but the West’s third-best team could not do any more damage before the end of the inning.

The teams continued to trade zeroes back and forth, as Mililani’s bats continued to struggle to the tune of one hit through five innings of play.

The tides shifted for the Trojans in the top of the sixth however, as the Mililani offense exploded for four runs on four hits in the frame to take a 5-4 lead over Campbell. 

The Sabers would answer right back, tying the game at five in the bottom half of the sixth with a Cason Eliptico-Quinata RBI single through the right side.

With both offenses getting shut down in the seventh, extra baseball was needed to decide who would take the first spot in tomorrow night’s OIA Division I championship game.

Mililani threatened, getting two runners on with two out in the top of the eighth inning, but could not bring either runner home after a fly out to centerfield ended the frame.

Campbell opened the bottom half of the eighth with a single and sacrifice bunt to put the winning run on second base with one out. A walk to Lanzon Nagum and 5-3 fielder’s choice moved the winning run 90 feet away with two down and Dayton Lorenzo stepping to the plate. 

Lorenzo drove the ball into right field, bringing home the winning run and sending the Sabers to the OIA Division I championship. 

Dalton Iwamoto was charged with the loss for the Trojans, going 2.1 innings, allowing just the lone run in the eighth, while striking out two and giving up three hits. 

Kalaeloaloa Kalua earned the win for the Sabers, going 2.1 innings and allowing four total baserunners, keeping Mililani off the board in the later innings to give Campbell a chance to walk things off.

Ridge Choy went 1-for-4 on the evening with three RBI on a double for the Sabers. 

Campbell awaits the winner of the other semifinal matchup of the night, as Leilehua takes on Kailua.