FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Juniors Brandi Peiler and Kate Robinson have combined to yield just 19 hits in nearly 70 innings this season for the Kamehameha girls softball team.
Kamehameha pitcher Brandi Peiler missed half this season due to a recurring virus. Now that she's back and side-by-side with ace Kate Robinson, it's the rest of the ILH that's feeling a little sick. Armed and dangerous
The Warriors will go into today's ILH
title game against Punahou with two of the
state's best pitchers in Robinson and PeilerBy Marc Dixon
mdixon@starbulletin.comJuniors Peiler and Robinson have 12 of the Warriors' 14 wins between them, and though they have combined for nearly 70 innings this season, they have only given up 19 hits.
"Myself, the coaches and Kamehameha are very fortunate that they are on our team," said third-year coach Ty Sing Chow. "There are a lot of teams with good pitchers in the state that are like them, but we happen to have two of them."
The two are not new to the ILH softball circuit. They were Star-Bulletin first-team all-state selections last season on a Kamehameha team that finished 17-0 and captured the state crown. Robinson was the all-state first baseman and Peiler was an all-state outfielder.
"Offensively, they are our third and fourth batters," said Sing Chow. "They hit the ball well and with the protection of (fifth batter) Sharee Fonoti, they are difficult to pitch around."
Peiler boasts a batting average above .500 and Robinson over .400, and both have belted two home runs this season. But as dangerous as they are at the plate, they are far more feared when they are bearing down on it.
Robinson, at 10-2, is the ace. At one point this season, she ran off 10 straight wins, losing in the first game of the season and again Monday in the last game of the regular season.
"She's got all the pitches, everything except the screwball and we're working on that," said assistant coach Lindon Lariosa.
Said Sing Chow: "She has good command of all of her pitches and she knows when to miss and where, and she hits her locations well."
Sing Chow also heralded Robinson's poise on the mound. In the first meeting this season against Punahou, Robinson found herself in a tough jam at the end of the game.
"When they scored to tie the game and we had to go to extra innings, I felt really nervous," Robinson said. "But as a pitcher you have to concentrate more. You have control of the game. I stayed in and got the outs and we got the extra run we needed to win."
Robinson was able to overcome some early struggles in her softball career.
"I really didn't like it when I had a hard time with control when I was younger," said Robinson. "But now I enjoy the game very much. When I'm not playing softball, I'm talking about it, thinking about it."
According to Sing Chow, both girls possess leadership qualities, but it is Peiler who is the more vocal of the two, and she never made more noise than she did two Mondays ago when she fired a perfect game against Sacred Hearts Academy.
"I didn't think about it until the very end," said Peiler. "It was awesome. My defense helped me out a lot. I can't do it by myself, so I just threw my game and hit my pitches and it was all good."
On top of sharing a position, Peiler and Robinson also share a goal to repeat as champions, and although they may not know it, the presence of healthy competition and quiet admiration are helping them achieve that team goal.
"Kate is like my role model," said Peiler. "I see what she's doing and I don't want to let her down by not doing my best. I try to pick her up and stuff."
Robinson added that after seeing Peiler's perfecto, she found new inspiration to throw one of her own.
"It takes the right breaks to get one of those," Sing Chow explained. "But Kate has the stuff to do it."
In last season's state championship game against Kailua, Peiler batted 2-for-3 and drove in a run. This year, when she is not pitching, she serves as the left fielder. But like Robinson, Peiler prefers life toeing the rubber.
"You always have the ball, so you feel more power on the mound," said Peiler. "The game is in your hand, basically it all starts with you."
A softballer since she was in the first grade and playing Bobby Sox, Peiler has been pitching since she was 10. As is ritual in Mililani, Peiler also played soccer, but she made the decision to go to softball full time because the two sports share a season.
This past Saturday, Robinson and Peiler combined on a no-hitter against Mid-Pacific. On Monday, Punahou defeated the Warriors despite a four-hitter by Robinson. Today the teams meet for the ILH title, but both will play in the state playoffs.
"It's been quite a season for us," said Sing Chow. "If things come together right, we should do well."
Hawaii School Web Sites
