Sunday, February 3, 2002
[ HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL ]
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Last night, Leo Sing Chow enjoyed one of those euphoric moments most athletes experience only in dreams. Sing Chow carries Kamehameha
By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.comThe Kamehameha senior picked up a complete-game win and hit a home run in her final high school at-bat to lead the Warriors to a 4-0 victory over Kailua in the finals of the Chevron State Softball Championship at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.
"I never could imagine it being all together like that," Sing Chow said. "It just makes it more special."
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The victory gave Kamehameha, which lost to Baldwin in last year's state championship game, its seventh state championship and its first since 1998, when this year's senior class was in the eighth grade. The Warriors finished the season with a 17-0 record."This was our last chance," said senior shortstop Ashley Ruff. "The last time on the field with these girls, the time in these uniforms, last time on the bus and to win a state title is great."
While Kailua (13-4) was denied its first title since 1997, there were few long faces in the Surfrider dugout after the game. Kailua returns all but one starter next year, including freshman pitcher Courtney Kessell, who recorded 23 strikeouts in three tournament games.
"They had good hits, so there's nothing you can do," Kailua coach Bernard Victor said. "We didn't make any errors to give them anything. They earned everything they got."
"I told (Kessell) don't feel bad. Not too many freshmen get to pitch in a championship game."
Kamehameha opened the scoring in the bottom of the first when tournament most valuable player Brandi Peiler singled to center to drive in Kate Robinson.
Peiler, a sophomore, went 5-for-6 and drove in four runs in Kamehameha's final two games.
"She struggled at the beginning of the season," Kamehameha coach Ty Sing Chow said. "But the last half of the regular season and the last three nights she just exploded. That's the kind of hitter she can be."
Leo Sing Chow was responsible for the rest of Kamehameha's offense. She scored Peiler with a double in the fourth inning, then slammed a two-run homer over the center field fence in the sixth.
"I was just trying to enjoy that, because that just felt so good," she said.
Sing Chow ended with just two strikeouts after posting 21 in her first two tournament outings. But the Warrior defense kept the Surfriders off the scoreboard.
"Leo struggled a little tonight, but the defense was there for her," Ty Sing Chow said. "They rose up and they made the plays. We bent, but we didn't break.
"With Leo, sometimes our defense is not really shown. But I'm really glad on a night like tonight that the defense got to show all their hard work."
Said Ruff: "Our defense always backs Leo up, We know she's a great pitcher and we have confidence in her, but we're there for her when she needs us. We always have her back."
Kailua mounted a final rally in the seventh. The Surfriders loaded the bases with two outs and Jaushlyn Mansinon represented the tying run at the plate. But Sing Chow got her to pop out to Robinson to end the game.
Both Ruff, who will continue her career at UH, and Leo Sing Chow were in the stands at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium the last time Kamehameha won a state championship, and soaked in the joy of reaching the pinnacle themselves.
"After constantly falling short year after year, finally getting it makes it even more memorable and more special," Leo Sing Chow said. "I was watching that game my eighth-grade year and I knew I wanted to win it so much. I wanted to feel what it felt like and I'm just glad we finally got it this year."
Semifinal
KAILUA 2, LEILEHUA 1Kessell struck out nine batters to lead the Surfriders into the championship game.
The game was completed yesterday afternoon after being suspended in the top of the fifth inning Friday night due to rain.
Kailua did all of its damage before the suspension Friday night.
Leilehua took a 1-0 lead on Ericka Ige's run-scoring single in the bottom of the fourth. Kailua tied the game in the top of the fifth when Kessell drove in Sharde Marshall with a single to center. After one of five rain delays, Danielle Young singled to center to plate Rusty Ann Borges, the courtesy runner for Kessell, with the winning run.
When the game was resumed yesterday, Kessell allowed just one baserunner in earning her second win of the tournament.
Third-place
BALDWIN 5, LEILEHUA 0Sophomore Angela Larose tossed a six-inning no-hitter to lead the Bears to a third-place finish in the state.
Ashlyn Russell gave Larose all the support she needed with a solo home run over the left field fence in the first inning.
The game was called after six innings due to the tournament's time limit.
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