PHOTO COURTESY UH-HILO ATHLETICS
Leinani Hashida made the PacWest's first team last year after finishing second in hits (60) and RBIs (33).
It took an entire winter, but the Hawaii-Hilo softball team has made up the single game that kept it out of the national tournament last year. Hilo aims to make tourney
Team by teamBy Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comThis is the time of year when each team starts tied for first, when each holds a glimmer of hope for everything to come together and result in a national championship. From Brigham Young-Hawaii -- 10-30 last year and missing its best pitcher -- to defending conference champion Western New Mexico, everything that happened last year is but a memory. But what makes this season so anticipated is how each team has stored away mistakes from the past with an eye toward the future.
The Vulcans have the biggest reason to want to get back onto the field. They split a four game series at home against Western New Mexico last year and ran through the rest of the conference schedule with only one more loss. Unfortunately for them, the Mustangs went undefeated the rest of the way to steal the conference title by a game.
After losing the title, the Vulcans went to California and fell apart, losing three of their last four games to take them out of consideration for an at-large bid.
"We talk about it all the time," Hilo coach Callen Perreira said. "We missed it by a game and hope we can redeem ourselves, but we also know that going 17-3 again in this conference will not be easy. We believe if we can take care of ourselves, things will fall in place."
The Vulcans will have to be on the top of their game every day to make up the one game between them and Western New Mexico, because the Mustangs return all but one starter and will get Hilo at home this year, traveling to Hawaii only to play Hawaii Pacific and Brigham Young-Hawaii.
"I don't see them (Western New Mexico) taking four at HPU," Perreira said. "Hopefully we will take care of things and it will matter to us."
Brigham Young-Hawaii opens the season at home against Gustavas Adolphus on Monday, followed by Chaminade hosting the Gusties on Wednesday and Hawaii Pacific taking them on Friday.
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Hawaii-Hilo
Last year: 38-19, 17-3 PacWest, 15-1 vs. Hawaii teamsPitching: Last year one of Perreira's few problems was finding innings for each of his three stellar pitchers, and he handled it well enough to have the lowest staff earned run average in the league.
Even though Taysha Anderson, who started the season as Perreira's No. 1 but slipped a spot with the emergence of Kristin Kahoalii, leaves with the 118 1/3 innings she threw, the crunch will be even more severe this season. Perreira has Kahoalii (16-8, 1.08 ERA) back for her senior season and fellow Californian Tara Martinez (8-6, 2.08) back for her sophomore campaign. Although Martinez has been tested (she shut out the Mustangs last year) she will be pushed by a pair of newcomers.
Perreira went out and got Sarah Steele from Fontana, Calif., to take the third spot, then brought in an infielder whose talent demands time in the circle. Hawaii fans know all about Leo Sing Chow, the Star-Bulletin's high school player of the year at Kamehameha last year, but she will have to prove that she can toss the ball as well as three of California's top pitchers to earn a spot in the rotation.
"I'll put them all out there and see who does the job," Perreira said. "We don't have a lot of time to experiment."
Hitting: The Vulcans were fourth in the conference with 3.58 runs per game last year and scored in double figures twice. They pounded out 10 or more hits 16 times, including five in a row to close out the conference slate. But for all the impressive numbers the Vulcans put up, they know that the only numbers that matter are the ones that came against the best pitchers.
The Vulcans were held to one run or none four times in their last five games and scored only three runs in their six meetings with the Mustangs. They know that Kahoalii can shut down anybody; they are not completely sure that they can score on anybody.
Throw in the fact that leading hitter Michele LaRose graduated, along with top home-run hitter Abby Padasao. That puts all kinds of pressure on those who are left behind to finish the job and make sure the newcomers aren't thrown immediately into the fire.
Leinani Hashida hit .341 last year and is expected to fill Padasdao's role as the power source since she led the team in runs batted in last year. But finding someone to pair with Hashida in the order will tell Perreira how far he can go this season. Kelly Moore, Kayla Kahuli and Kalei Robia could improve enough to protect Hashida. Third baseman and leadoff hitter Diana Kim will have to run a lot more since the team lost its two top base stealers and doesn't seem to have added speed to replace them.
Defense: The Vulcans have the best left side of the infield in the league, with Nancy Vega at short and Kim at third, and the Vulcans will need it, too. Their pitchers force batters to beat the ball into the ground, where Vega has the range and arm strength to make them pay. Vega led the team in errors last year with 18 but also led in total chances with 128. Her range took some chances away from Kim, who is nowhere near as flashy as Vega but gets the same results. Clarisa Asuncion may be moved from second to the outfield to fill Padasao's spot and make room for an open position where the rest of the team can compete for two starting spots. Catcher is locked up with Kayla Kahuli starting and Punahou product Natalie Fujimoto backing her up. The outfield just has to make the routine plays and contribute at the plate.
UH-Hilo Athletics
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Hawaii Pacific
Last year: 21-21 overall, 4-12 PacWest, 11-7 vs. Hawaii teamsEver the teacher, Howard Okita expects the girls who got him into this mess to learn from it and get him out of it. Okita hopes that the same group that put a .500 record on their head coach's sterling career record can turn it around this year, figuring that last year was just a fluke, something to be learned from and forgotten.
"They don't want to have the kind of season they had last year," Okita said. "Last year was really a down year, everybody caught up with them. Nobody really has a power pitcher now; everybody's pitchers are better."
Pitching: The most important position is where HPU's competition has caught up the quickest. The Sea Warriors saw their staff ERA rise a full run last year and return the same trio. (Former stars) Jennifer Monzon and Susie Shoales are nowhere to be found, but there are three solid pitchers who should get better under Okita's teaching.
Jessica Parra (8-7, 3.07) and Mallory Anderson (7-8, 2.34) form a nice power-speed combination, with Parra whiffing 45 hitters in 95 2/3 innings and Anderson walking only 13 in 86 2/3 Malia Sullivan (6-6, 2.33) started the year as the No. 1 pitcher and finished with the lowest ERA.
Hitting: Any team that features Brandy Choy Foo will have no problem scoring runs.
Choy Foo, a junior infielder, hit .356 with five home runs last year to earn all-conference honors, and is expected to be even better this year. Okita says the improvement she has shown over the winter is astonishing, and that the burden of being a utility player is a thing of the past.
Tascha Berinobis is one of the three seniors who have played through HPU's fall from grace and may be the hitter tasked with getting the Sea Warriors back to the regional tournament. With Choy Foo hitting in front of her, Berinobis drove in 31 runs while hitting .298. She hit one fewer home run than Choy Foo.
Jamie Reyes hit .348 in a platoon role last year and has earned a full-time starting job. Kim Fukumoto and Kristin Fujii are both solid at the plate, but Okita needs more from Rachel Lacar, who hit only .193 in her sophomore season.
Defense: This was the most baffling aspect of the game for Okita, who usually has his team challenging for the lead in the fielding percentage marks from around the country.
The Sea Warriors only fielded .951 last year, a drop of 44 points from the previous season. Every team in the conference improved with the glove except the Sea Warriors.
"It was something unreal," Okita said. "We would play one game and everything would click, the next game they would look terrible. It was the worst licking I've ever taken as a coach."
The two players most guilty of the Sea Warriors' uncharacteristically bad fielding were the two who carry them offensively.
Choy Foo committed 14 errors and Berinobis was stuck with 13, but Okita believes that that, like much of what went wrong last year, was a one-shot deal and unlikely to repeat. He will keep the two together as the double play combination all year long -- they were more utility players last year, never really settling into a position -- and expects the results to be drastically different.
HPU Sports
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Chaminade
Last year: 26-23 overall, 12-8 PacWest, 13-12 vs. Hawaii teamsThe Silverswords finished third in the conference last year, but for a couple of reasons they feel like they are the team to beat. First, they beat Hawaii-Hilo to deny it a share of the conference title. Then, they swept Hawaii Pacific late in the year to keep the Sea Warriors in the fourth spot.
"We have got a big target on our back because we surprised some people last year, ruined a lot of people's plans," Chaminade coach Walter Kaaihili said. "I don't know what to expect but I think we can challenge for the championship."
Pitching: If Kaaihili is to contend for the championship, he will have to do it without his daughter. Kelly Kaaihili was the Silverswords' second starter behind Melissa Marquez (13-10, 1.63) last year and was set to take over the No. 1 spot this year. But Kelly Kaaihili (8-12, 2.29) injured her shoulder late last year and decided not to come back. With Marquez also gone, only Donnel Wittekind returns with any experience. Wittekind (3-1, 2.43) proved she could handle the No. 2 role last year when Kaaihili went down, but it's doubtful if the .303 batting average opponents put up against her would do if she was to be asked to be the staff's ace.
That role is expected to go to Loihi McKeague, who did not pitch an inning last year but was a standout for Pearl City in high school. Walter Kaaihili says he had planned on having her pitch all along, but there were always more experienced players in her way.
Senior catcher Alicia Quindt makes the transition easier for the pitching staff.
Hitting: The Silverswords did the unthinkable -- at least in collegiate softball -- last year, winning with a great offense supporting good pitching rather than the other way around.
Chaminade scored 4.26 runs per game and were only shut out twice in conference games.
"We may get hit this year, but we expect to outhit our opponents until our pitchers grow and mature," Walter Kaaihili said.
McKeague will follow in the tradition of great hitting Chaminade pitchers, since she hit .318 with a team-leading 14 doubles last year. Quindt hit .339 last year and stole seven bases in seven attempts, striking out only four times in 118 at-bats. She has no power, but may be the best pure hitter in the conference with her ability to find holes in the defense.
What makes her even more dangerous is that everyone around her has the ability to drive her in. The Silverswords had eight different players finish in double figures in RBIs.
Kehau Yamaguchi and Pua Reis are expected to step right into the mix.
Defense: The Silverswords were last in the conference in fielding percentage at .944, but actually improved by two points over the previous year. More improvement is expected this year.
"We have been working hard on defense this year," Kaaihili said. "Last year it was our weak spot. Last year (his first) we concentrated on hitting to set the foundation. This year we are spending a lot more time defensively."
The Silverswords did improve defensively late in the year, making only eight errors in the last nine games, allowing them to put together their longest winning streak of the year (six).
Chaminade Sports
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Brigham Young-Hawaii
Last year: 10-30 overall, 2-18 PacWest, 4-13 vs. Hawaii teamsAfter winning only a pair of conference games last year, Seasiders coach Jackson Mapu had enough to worry about without having to keep his girls motivated.
That was no problem.
"I think it's a whole different attitude," Mapu said. "We have a new look, a new team and a new attitude. After last year, I haven't had too much problem with motivation, everybody kind of wants to turn this around, even if they weren't here."
A lot of things have to happen for the Seasiders to turn around the conference's leakiest ship, including the loss of their best pitcher from a year ago and molding a bunch of strangers into a team. Only four players return from last year, as Mapu went out and loaded his team with junior college transfers who are ready to win now.
Pitching: After struggling through the first part of the season last year, Kassiopeia Hood gave Seasiders followers a reason for optimism in an otherwise dark season, throwing four shutouts -- two of them on back-to-back days against Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific -- and not allowing a home run.
But those days will be delayed for a year, as Hood is sitting out the season because of academic problems. Mapu says it is not as big a deal as it seems, since his team was only the fifth-best in the conference even with her, and he has brought in some arms to make up for her absence until she returns.
Leading the parade of newcomers are Lisa Hansen and Regina Molifua. The problem for Mapu is that they may not get the innings they require to make the team as successful as they left their junior college programs.
Mapu also has to find work for freshman Echo Hatch, who will certainly be at the top of the rotation before she is done, as well as half of last year's pitching staff, Jill Margetts (2-7, 4.37) -- who started the season as the No. 1 last year but may be in a long relief role this year -- and Tracy Bonami (4-10, 4.46).
Hitting: The Seasiders went four straight games without scoring a run last year, something Mapu doesn't expect to happen this year.
Crystal Elton and Michelle Gibson are the only two hitters returning who hit over .250 last year, and are expected to improve with an all new supporting cast. Emily Lister comes from Ricks College and brings enough power that Mapu says she is a natural first baseman but will be in the outfield because he has to find a spot for her bat. Lister can't play first base because Teresa Hurst comes in from Salt Lake Community College to take the spot.
Hurst is one of the few to have been granted a solid job, as Mapu went into the recruiting season trying to rebuilt a team that he can work with late in games.
Mapu needed to rebuild the lineup, as none of the returnees hit double figures in either runs scored or RBIs last year and his team was outscored by 100 runs.
Defense: As important as coaches say playing solid defense is to winning, the Seasiders didn't hurt themselves with errors.
They were third in the conference in fielding percentage and improved by 19 points, but with all of the new faces nothing that happened last year really matters.
Mapu made flexibility his focus in recruiting, going after girls who have the ability to play more than one position. That puts him three-deep at every spot, so if someone is hurting the team defensively Mapu can use a quick hook to correct it.
"Depth will play a big part for us this year," Mapu said. "A couple of positions are still up in the air, but with two games a day every other day, we will need everyone we have."
BYUH Athletics
