HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Leilehua's Ashley Phillips avoided a tag from Pearl City's Sanoe Aina yesterday at Kapolei High School.
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Leilehua advances to OIA softball championship
By Brendan Sagara
Special to the Star-Bulletin
The Leilehua softball team isn't ready to surrender its glass slipper just yet.
After battling to a 6-6 mark in the regular season, the Mules have emerged as the Cinderella story of the OIA softball tournament, running off three wins in as many days to play for the school's first OIA Softball Championship.
The Mules, led by new head coach Stacy Araki and a revamped staff of Leilehua alumni, reached tonight's title game with a 6-1 semifinal win over Pearl City yesterday.
The Mules face 13-time league champion Kailua, which advanced to the final with a 4-2 win over Mililani on Thursday. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m. at Central Oahu Regional Park.
Leilehua wasted few opportunities to rough up Chargers starter Marina Gusman-Brown, who gave up five runs in four-plus innings to absorb the loss at Kapolei High School's field.
"We really want it," said Leilehua ace Tiana Vierra. "We have a lot of seniors, nine of us, and we want to get it done. Our hitting, our defense, everything seems to be coming together now."
Pearl City (11-3) registered the game's first score in the bottom of the first. After Gusman-Brown laced Vierra's first pitch of the game into left for a single, she stole second and then scored on a pair of wild pitches.
Gusman-Brown faced just two batters over the minimum in holding the Mules scoreless for the first four frames.
But Leilehua kept its cool as Vierra quickly settled down and matched the Chargers ace pitch-for-pitch, quieting Pearl City with four strikeouts over the next three innings.
Trailing 1-0, Leilehua used timely hits and took advantage of Pearl City miscues to break the contest open with four runs in the fifth.
With one out and Jamie Kim on second, Mules right fielder Shannell Treu spun a dribbler off the cap of her bat to Gusman-Brown. The pitcher's throw to first sailed into foul territory to score Kim and advance Treu to third base.
Leilehua catcher Ashley Phillips followed with an RBI single up the middle to score Treu, and then stole second. After Ciara Paracuelles walked, Nikki Ige drilled a single to right. The Chargers right fielder's throw to first sailed high and rolled to the backstop, allowing Phillips and Paracuelles to score.
"Everyone came in and did their jobs for us today," Phillips said. "The pinch hitters, the pinch runners came in and did what they needed to. Even our bench helped us keep our energy up."
At Kapolei H.S. field
Leilehua (9-6) |
000 |
042 |
0 |
-- |
6 |
10 |
0
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Pearl City (11-3) |
100 |
000 |
0 |
-- |
1 |
5 |
4 |
Tiana Vierra and Ashley Phillips. Marina Gusman-Brown, Corrie Nishikida (5), and Noelle Hirahara. W--Vierra. L--Gusman-Brown.
Leading hitters--Lei: Vierra 3-4, 2b; Phillips 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs; Nikki Ige 2-4, 2 RBI; Jamie Kim 1-3, 2 runs. PC: Nishikida 2-2.
CONSOLATION
Moanalua 1, Castle 0
Sarah Robinson struck out six batters and pitched a three-hit shutout to lead the Menehunes over the Knights.
With the win, the Menehunes clinched a state tournament spot and will play Kapolei today in the fifth-place game.
At Castle H.S. field
Moanalua (10-5) |
000 |
000 |
1 |
-- |
1 |
3 |
0
|
Castle (11-3) |
000 |
000 |
0 |
-- |
0 |
3 |
0 |
Sarah Robinson and Shelby Nakachi. Alana Abbey, Chaneel Dacosin (2) and Kelsea Berinobies. W--Robinson. L--Dacosin.
Leading hitters-- Moan: Traci Yoshikawa 2b, RBI.
Warriors win ILH title with rout
Kamehameha beat Sacred Hearts 9-3 yesterday to win the ILH title outright.
Noe Esperas pitched six shutout innings to lead the Warriors to a 13-1 record to end the regular season. Kamehameha and St. Francis (12-2) will represent the ILH in the state tournament.
Brittany Clark, Dara Pagaduan and Alyssa Bergado homered for Kamehameha.
At Kamehameha
Sacred Hearts |
000 |
000 |
3 |
-- |
3 |
5 |
1
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Kamehameha |
210 |
420 |
0 |
-- |
9 |
8 |
1 |
Joslyn Eugenio and Chelsey Kamai. Noe Esperas, Amber Waracha (7) and Kahea Alohikea, Kanani Adam (6). W--Esperas. L--Eugenio.
Leading hitters--Kam: Kaui Tom 2-3, 2b, 2 RBIs; Brittany Clark 2-3, HR, 2 RBIs; Dara Pagaduan HR, 2 RBIs, 1-2; Alyssa Bergado 1-2, HR.
Star-Bulletin staff