HIGH SCHOOL REPORT
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kamehameha pitcher Noe Esperas opened her senior season with consecutive no-hitters against Mid-Pacific and Maryknoll.
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Esperas rising
The senior pitcher has come out of the shadows to lead Kamehameha
By Brendan Sagara
Special to Star-Bulletin
FOR the first two years of her prep career, Kamehameha softball pitcher Noe Esperas was one of the Warriors' secret weapons, working in the formidable shadows of star hurlers Kate Robinson and Brandi Peiler.
As a freshman, Esperas was already being used in big games by Warrior head coach Ty Sing Chow, as Robinson and Peiler garnered the spotlight on their way to All-State seasons as Kamehameha fell in the state title game.
During her sophomore campaign, it was more of the same for Esperas and the Warriors, as Peiler and Robinson helped Kamehameha enjoy another strong season, headlining a list of six players from the Kapalama campus to earn first-team All-State honors.
That season, Esperas began to get a little recognition of her own, earning honorable mention All-State distinction for her efforts in helping the Warriors win another Interscholastic League of Honolulu crown, finishing tied for third in the state tournament.
Last season, with Peiler and Robinson off on college softball scholarships, Esperas finally stood center stage as Kamehameha's ace and ripped off a 12-2 record with a 0.83 ERA, including a perfect game against Iolani and a no-hitter vs. defending state division II champion University High.
"I knew I had some big shoes to fill, coming up behind two really great pitchers," Esperas said. "Whenever I pitched during those two years, I set a personal goal to do as well as they did to help the team as much as I could. They really taught me a lot about the importance of composure and hard work."
ESPERAS' ONLY two defeats last year came at the hands of arguably the best hitting team in the state in Punahou, which went 19-1 during the season. Unfortunately, for Esperas, the Warriors fell just short of a another ILH title, and with it, the league's only spot in the state tournament.
Even without the benefit of pitching on the state's biggest stage last year, Esperas earned second-team All-State honors, using a formidable fastball and the rest of her five-pitch repertoire to lead Kamehameha to a runner-up finish in the ILH.
This year, the Kaneohe resident has not taken anyone in the highly competitive ILH by surprise. Esperas exploded back onto the scene, opening her senior campaign with consecutive no-hitters against Mid-Pacific and Maryknoll.
Just over halfway through the regular season, Esperas has already added a one-hit victory over this year's reigning Division II state champ, St. Francis, and a pair of two-hit wins against Punahou and Mid-Pacific.
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Senior pitcher Noe Esperas is a blur in the background of the softball, but the ILH's knowledge of her talent is clear.
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Esperas even avenged her only loss of the year last Saturday, when she spun a five-hitter to defeat Iolani 8-2, helping Kamehameha stay on top of the ILH standings.
Esperas has crafted a 10-1 record and a 0.82 ERA this year, with 63 strikeouts and just 32 hits allowed in 68 innings. In her 11 starts, Esperas has posted six shutouts and nine complete games.
Esperas credits her teammates and their strong all-around effort for her success.
"Our hitting and defense has really been great this season. We're really close as a team and we can really trust each other out on the field, and that helps a lot," she said, pointing to catcher Alohikea Kahea as a big help. "She has done a good job this year. She is always working to get better, running and working on her catching on our days off and I have a lot of faith in her and we work well together."
WITH THE LOSS of four starters from last year's squad, Sing Chow and his staff already knew they had their work cut out coming into the season. Injuries to a number of key projected starters forced the Warriors to play a number of underclassmen throughout the first half of the year.
Returning star slugger and two-time state wrestling champ Hoku Nohara, who injured her ACL while wrestling in the offseason, is just becoming game ready, as is center fielder Paiao Wright-Ah Sam, who broke her collarbone making a diving catch in the preseason.
Third baseman Dara Padaguan, an honorable mention All-State pick as a freshman last year, missed the first two games of the year and has battled through pain ever since.
"We knew we lost a lot coming into the season with four of our starters graduating," Sing Chow said. "But the injuries have made it tough. We lost Hoku when she hurt her knee, and Paiao when she broke her collarbone, and they are both about ready to get back to full strength. Dara has shown a lot of heart playing through her injuries. She's a gamer."
With the injury bug leaving the Kamehameha roster so thin, Esperas has been Sing Chow's most valuable asset.
"Noe has really helped us hold down the fort during all the injuries," Sing Chow said. "Obviously she is one of the big reasons why we're still competing for a state tournament spot, and our bench has done a great job filling in for us and working through their inexperience."
SING CHOW KNOWS exactly why Esperas is a winner.
"The bottom line is that she's a competitor," Sing Chow said. "She wants the ball and she wants to win. She does everything she can do to be prepared for each game. She is always working hard, whether it's her bullpens, or running sprints, or stairs, or her ab work. She was brought up tough and she does not beat herself."
Having watched Esperas enjoy more than her fair share of success at the prep level, Sing Chow believes that his hard-throwing righty can make the jump to the next level. Last year alone, Kamehameha sent four players off to college programs such as Tennessee, Creighton and Santa Clara. Three more from this year's class have already made commitments for next year.
"I really hope she gets a chance to play at the college level," Sing Chow said. "A couple of our other seniors, Kaui Tom and Charina Sumner, have already committed to play at East Carolina next year, and I think Noe can compete somewhere. I'm sure there are concerns about her size, but I think in a way she's similar to Miki Asamura (former Mililani and current Hawaii-Hilo pitcher)."
Esperas would like to have that chance as well. Should she get a shot, she would follow a long line of former Warrior All-State hurlers to pitch at the college level, including recent alums Leo Sing Chow, Kelly Kaaihili, Robinson and Peiler.
"I just want to go somewhere that I can pitch and get an education," Esperas said. "I would really like a chance to experience that."
At the moment, Esperas has more immediate concerns on her mind, like getting Kamehameha back to February's HHSAA tournament for a shot at the state's top prize.
"It feels really good for us to know that we still have a chance to go to states at this time of the year," Esperas said. "We just have to work hard and take it one day at a time. We can do this as a team. Our coaches believe in us, now we just have to believe in ourselves to get it done."
With three games remaining in the ILH season -- against Punahou, St. Francis and Sacred Hearts -- the Warriors control their own fate. If they win out, Kamehameha will claim the league title and one of two ILH state tournament berths for this year.
Should they return to the state tournament after missing last year's event, it is no mystery who Kamehameha's not-so-secret weapon will be.
"There's no doubt that Noe's our ticket," Sing Chow said. "She's always going to give us a chance to win a ballgame. With our starters coming back slowly and the depth the injuries allowed us to build, I hope that we will be peaking at the right time. As well as she's done this year, she's still got more there."