DIVISION II STATE SOFTBALL
Pine Lasses arrive in style
Lanai's softball team pulled off a big upset, but didn't have enough left in the tank to collect another at Central Oahu Regional Park.
Datahouse/HHSAA State Softball Championships
Division II
Seeds: 1. Sacred Hearts; 2. Kauai; 3. Kahuku; 4. KS-Hawaii
All remaining games at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium
First round
Yesterday
Lanai 12, McKinley 5
Quarterfinals
Yesterday
Sacred Hearts 23, Lanai 1
(The following games were suspended mid-game due to weather and will finish today)
KS-Hawaii 7, Molokai 0, top 5
Pahoa 7, Kauai 6, bottom 4
Maryknoll 8, Kahuku 3, bottom 4
Semifinals
Today
Sacred Hearts vs. KS-Hawaii/Molokai winner, 2 p.m.
Kauai/Pahoa winner vs. Kahuku/Maryknoll winner, 4 p.m.
Championship
Tomorrow
Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.
|
The Pine Lasses arrived on Oahu at 11 a.m. yesterday, a day after they waited for a flight to take them to their Datahouse/HHSAA State Softball Championships opening-round Division II game against McKinley. No flights were available because of the heavy winds hitting the islands.
The game was rescheduled for early yesterday afternoon. Against the odds, the Lasses arrived on time -- and they weren't content with just showing up.
Lanai -- which posted a 3-11 record in the Maui Interscholastic League -- took the next step and landed the upset of the tournament by defeating McKinley 12-5 before falling to Sacred Hearts 23-1 in a quick-turnaround quarterfinal.
The Tigers of the Oahu Interscholastic Association, fell to 10-5.
For Lanai's players and coaches, it was an adventure just getting to Oahu.
"Our scheduled flight (Wednesday) was at 9:45 a.m., (and it) got canceled at 3 o'clock. We waited at the airport from 8 to 3," said Lanai coach Roderick Sumagit. "They tried to bring in another plane at 7:15 (p.m.), we tried to get on the flight, but it doesn't happen and no (other) plane came in."
The HHSAA managed to secure a flight for them early yesterday morning, but Sumagit had to get his players ready mentally after the previous day's letdown.
"I talked to them about the David and Goliath story," Sumagit said. "Our school of 160 compared to a school with a thousand kids. And we can overcome it. Who wants it more, from the heart and from the guts. And we pulled it off. They really came to play in the first game."
The players arrived at CORP in time to quickly eat and change into their uniforms.
The Lasses' Kaila Daniels pitched a complete game while driving in three runs. Nani Zablan drove in four runs and Monique Oriol added three RBIs.
It was a totally different story in their second game of the day, in which fatigue started to become a factor. Sacred Hearts (7-8) came out blazing and led 11-1 after the first inning, and added five more runs in the second.
Lanai senior Spring Divina pitched two innings of scoreless relief before the Lancers added seven more runs in the fifth frame to complete the rout.
"Everybody kept their head up and everyone was actually in it, they still wanted to play and do everything right," said Divina, who had an RBI in the first game. "But (we) wanted to do business first and our business was to get here, and win."
The Lasses were standing and cheering through to their last batter despite the overwhelming deficit.
Lancers coach Wade Okamura was proud of his team's effort after a one-week layoff, and had equal respect for his opponent. He tipped his cap to Lanai.
"Any team would have a tough time playing back to back," Okamura said. "I give 'em credit for being gamers. They weren't going to be denied their opportunity to play and have fun. And that's what they did from the start. (Even) when they fell behind, they were still enjoying themselves, nobody put their head down."
Sacred Hearts' Kiane Dalit and Corry Abellanida led the way with five RBIs apiece, while Joslyn Eugenio added four. Chelsea Kamai hit a solo home run in the second inning. Abellanida pitched the first three innings to pick up the win.
Rainy conditions postponed the three 7 p.m. quarterfinal CORP games in progress until today. The game locations and times were yet to be announced last night as HHSAA officials and referees discussed scenarios.
The scores of the games in progress were:
» Kamehameha-Hawaii 7, Molokai 0, top of the fifth.
» Pahoa 7, Kauai 6, bottom of the fourth; Kauai has two runners on with two outs.
» Maryknoll 8, Kahuku 3, bottom of the fourth; Maryknoll has two runners on with one out.