Kapaa earns big win against Farrington

Kapaa pitcher Melina Obar credited her teammates -- both on the field and on the bench -- for pushing her through those tense moments in a tight duel with Farrington.

Division II State Softball Seeds: 1. Kauai; 2. Farrington; 3. Kohala; 4. Lanai Yesterday At Patsy T. Mink Central Oahu Regional Park Consolation 5: Pahoa 8, Konawaena 6 6: Waianae 8, Nanakuli 2 Quarterfinals 7: Kauai 8, Waialua 1 8: Lanai 3, Kaiser 2 9: Kapaa 2, Farrington 0 10: Pac-Five 2, Kohala 1 Today Fifth-place bracket At CORP 11: Waialua vs. Kaiser, 5 p.m. (field 1) 12: Farrington vs. Kohala, 5 p.m. (field 2) Semifinals At Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium 13: Kauai vs. Lanai, 1 p.m. 14: Kapaa vs. Pac-Five, 3 p.m. Tomorrow At CORP 15: Consolation championship: Pahoa vs. Waianae, 7 p.m. (field 1) 16: Fifth-place game: Game 11 & 12 winners, 7 p.m. (field 2) At RWSS 17: Third-place game: Game 13 & 14 losers, 9 a.m. 18: Championship: Game 13 & 14 winners, 5 p.m.

"I have a good defense, and the dugout cheered me on and that helped," a relieved Obar said after sweating out a 2-0 win over the Governors. "I can't stand when it's quiet. I can't pitch good when it's quiet."

Thanks to a two-hit performance from their freshman right-hander, the Warriors are making some noise in the DataHouse/HHSAA Division II Softball Championship.

Throwing slow and slower, Obar frustrated the Governors in a quarterfinal win last night at Central Oahu Regional Park, sending Kapaa to a semifinal matchup with Pac-Five today. The game is set for 3 p.m. at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium on the University of Hawaii campus.

Kauai and Lanai meet in the other semifinal at 1 p.m.

Kapaa, the second-place team from the Kauai Interscholastic Federation, had to beat Molokai in a play-in game on Tuesday just to qualify for the tournament and is looking to extend its stay on Oahu a little longer.

"Back home we struggled, but we proved that we could do it," Kapaa coach Shelly Samio said. "Coming over here is a different caliber and they showed me what this team is really all about."

After blowing out Nanakuli in their tournament opener on Wednesday, the Warriors scraped out just enough offense against Farrington's Felicia Tui to back Obar.

Tui gave up just four hits and struck out eight, but came out on the short end.

"If you can't hit you can't win," Farrington coach Glen Zukeran said. "They played their heart out but we couldn't hit the ball."

Kapaa went up in the third inning when Jocelyn Enriques' sharp grounder up the first-base line hit the bag and bounced into right field and Hanalei Gomes came around from second to score.

Another Enriques' grounder in the top of the seventh again scored Gomes form third with the insurance run.

Obar handled the rest, keeping the OIA champion Governors off balance with an assortment of off-speed pitches.

"We know the teams over here are all fastball hitters," Samio said. "So we just told her to slow it down and she did the job."

"Unreal," was how Enriques, the Warriors' senior shortstop, summed up the freshman's five-strikeout performance. "She's been the heart of our team in the circle and all we can do as a team is back her up.

Pac-Five 2, Kohala 1

Trailing 1-0 going into the sixth inning, Keline Yoshimura doubled in the tying run then scored the go-ahead run on Britany Hagihara's ground out and the Wolfpack edged the Cowgirls.

Annie Lariosa had 10 strikeouts to outlast Kohala's Lavinia Holschuh, who struck out six.

Kauai 8, Waialua 1

Jessica Iwata hit a tie-breaking two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning and the top-seeded Red Raiders rolled into the semifinals. Iwata also had an RBI triple in the sixth inning and Wailana Borero drove in two more runs.

Borero also struck out eight and picked up a complete-game win, shutting the Bulldogs out after Marissa Keao's RBI triple in the third inning.

Lanai 3, Kaiser 2

Morgan Divina's two-run single highlighted Lanai's three-run rally in the second inning and Kaila Daniels protected the lead the rest of the way, finishing with a two-hitter, as the Pine Lasses advanced to the semifinals.

CONSOLATION

Pahoa 8, Konawaena 6

Waianae 8, Nanakuli 2