RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Kaimuki shortstop Tyleen Tausaga, who is on her way to UH, hit .780 last season.

Tausaga leads
by example

The Kaimuki senior
who hit .780 last season
is more than just a hitter

---

By Tim Crouse
tcrouse@starbulletin.com

TYLEEN Tausaga had the season of her life last year, hitting .780 for the Kaimuki softball team.

The left-handed senior shortstop is back for one final go-around on the high school scene before she heads off to college at the University of Hawaii.

The Oahu Interscholastic Association season starts next Wednesday, and the Bulldogs, coached by Tausaga's father, Lene Tausaga, are in the mix to challenge for the league title.

Led by Tausaga's bat, Kaimuki finished second in the OIA Eastern Division last season and advanced to the state tournament. In an opening-round tournament game against Waimea, Tausaga blasted a home run that hit the scoreboard in right-center field at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. Waimea won, with Tausaga taking the loss, but the Bulldogs rebounded to get to the consolation championship. In three games Tausaga was 5-for-9 with four extra-base hits and four runs scored.

Kaimuki's goal this season remains the same as last.

"(We try to) get to the OIA playoffs, get a spot in states and try to win states," Lene Tausaga said. "That's what we play for ever year."

Kaimuki returns pitcher/outfielder Dalia Solia, pitcher Lovely Moyle, and catcher Mele Matealona and infielder Sheena Asoau -- cousins of Tyleen. But Tausaga will be the key to reaching those goals.

Lene Tausaga said his daughter's bat in the lineup is huge, but her leadership is just as important.

Solia agreed.

"Tyleen is a big leader on this team. She's a good role model, especially for the players who want to play softball (in college)," Solia said.

"She gets on our case and she's really competitive. She always gives 100 percent, she's not just going through (the motions in) drills."

Tausaga said the team is really close, and sometimes that makes being a leader a little more difficult.

"It's kind of hard because you don't know sometimes how they're going to take it," she said. "I just try to tell them, 'You have to do it this way.' "

The way Tausaga has made her biggest impact on the field is with her bat.

During her .780 season a year ago, she hit five doubles, five triples and six home runs in 13 OIA games.

"She has a lot of power and a good eye for strikes," Lene Tausaga said.

Tyleen also knows about the art of hitting, saying she just tries to hit the ball wherever it's pitched, instead of always trying to force it to right field.

"I never kept my average (last year)," Tausaga said. "I just think about getting hits to win. The average is nothing."

WHEN TAUSAGA goes to UH next year, she'll see a familiar face on campus. Solia is going to UH, too -- on a basketball scholarship. Tausaga, who also plays basketball for Kaimuki, and Solia grew up together in the Palolo area and have been playing together for years -- including on the same Little League baseball team.

"We went to the same elementary school, same intermediate and high school," Tausaga said. But it was still a surprise when she found out the two will also be playing at the same university.

"I didn't know until I read it in the newspaper," said Tausaga, who made her decision to attend UH official during the early signing period.

"I signed early to get it out of the way and focus on softball (this season)," Tausaga said.

Lene Tausaga said it was a difficult choice for her, and that other interested schools included UCLA, Tennessee, Utah and Hawaii Pacific.

"It was a tough choice, but UH was giving her a good deal," he said.

Things will be different as a Rainbow Wahine, as coach Bob Coolen has told Tausaga that he would like her to try catching, which she has done very sparingly in high school.

"I knew she wasn't going to play shortstop at that level," Lene Tausaga said. "Coolen likes lefty girls who catch."

Said Tyleen: "I can learn that. Wherever he puts me, I can go."

Having a different coach than her father will also be new for Tausaga. Tyleen and Lene say they try to keep Kaimuki softball on the field and be father-daughter at home.

"It's kind of difficult and I think about it at home, trying to separate it," Lene said. "I always try to do the best for her."

That included starting a 12-and-under softball program in Palolo when Tyleen was getting started in the game.

"I tried to make (Tyleen and her two brothers) play sports to keep them occupied," he said.

That turned out to be a pretty good decision.

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