Kahanu Martinez homered and a cadre of young pitchers powered No. 5 Saint Louis in an 11-3 exhibition win over Sacramento powerhouse Rio Americano on a cloudy Tuesday afternoon.

Like most of the Crusaders’ starters, Martinez was done for the day after that second at-bat as coach Benny Agbayani ushered in reserve players.

With a crucial rematch against first-place Kamehameha today, Agbayani treated the game as a valuable midseason opportunity against the No. 3 team in Sacramento, Calif. Ranked No. 36 in California, the Raiders (14-4) completed their trip to the islands with two wins and one loss, beating Mililani 4-0 on Saturday and Kaiser 3-0 on Monday.

Martinez homered over the right field fence at Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional park in the midst of a five-run third inning by the Crusaders.

“We’re trying to get the most reps in for the games coming up, and just having fun,” the left-handed hitting shortstop said. “All fastballs, middle in. Regular season, there’s not too many fastballs, so I had to take advantage of it. I kind of got it good. We’re just playing free, nothing to lose. That’s how we should play every game.”

Even with a plethora of substitutes on the field, the Crusaders did not commit an error until the final inning. Rio Americano was flawless a day earlier against Kaiser, but finished with two miscues against Saint Louis. Those led to three unearned runs.

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It was part scrimmage, part exhibition, with both teams emptying their benches in the nine-inning matchup. Saint Louis’ bench began to empty in the fourth inning as Agbayani shuffled his lineup from top to bottom, younger players performing with poise. Veterans like Martinez and Aycen Fernandez cheered their younger teammates on from the dugout.

“Jeremiah (Young) coming out here to do well. He did his thing today for sure. He’s hungry and he wants to win,” Martinez said. “You cannot coach that.”

The Crusaders started Chandon Kipi on the mound. The right-handed junior tossed three scoreless innings, allowing two hits with one strikeout and one walk.

Isaiah Paloa, a 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore, pitched the fourth and fifth innings, allowing just one run on three hits with one K and one walk. He also went 1-for-2 at the plate with a double, a stolen base and a run scored.

“I expected to do my job. My changeup was working a little bit, just trying to locate my fastball,” said Paloa, who wore No. 67. “It’s just the number given to me. It’s still funny.”

As a team, most of the Crusaders wore numberless practice jerseys in this exhibition. It was the young reserves who wore numbered jerseys.

Young stepped in for the next two frames. The 6-2, 201-pound right-handed sophomore had not pitched all season for the Saint Louis JV team, which played a game on the field adjacent to the varsity. Young surrendered one run on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks in a gritty performance.

“I’m going to remember the day I finally got pulled to the varsity. I gave all my heart out and I’m going to give my heart in the rest of my high school career. My goal is to make it to the MLB one day, and I’m going to keep grinding.”

Junior Waioni Mandac hurled the last two innings, allowing no hits or runs with two strikeouts and three walks.

Like Saint Louis, Rio Americano went to four pitchers: Pierce Tully (3 innings, two earned runs, eight hits, two strikeouts), Conor Flynn (3 innings, no runs, no hits, four K’s, one walk, one HBP; Colin Brogan (2 innings, two runs, three hits, one strikeout, one HBP; Tyler Voss (1 inning, three runs, four hits, two K’s).

Flynn, a southpaw, was especially effective with location and a good mix of fastballs and breaking pitches.

Luke Rolli led the Raiders at the plate with RBI singles in the fourth and sixth innings. Pinch hitter Spencer Johnson tallied an RBI groundout, also in the sixth.

Fernandez scored one of the five runs in the third inning for the Crusaders.

“This (nonconference) game, we’re more relaxed, let the hands fly and we’ll work,” the senior right fielder said. “The young guys, I’m not surprised at all. I’m really impressed with them. They show it in practice. They’re working hard. It pays off.”