Forget the gloves, the bats and the cleats. Kamehameha beats
Punahou, takes ILHBy Nick Abramo
nabramo@starbulletin.comJust bring mountain-climbing gear, because scoring a run against two of the state's top softball pitchers is almost as hard as scaling a steep face.
Kamehameha climbed the mountain first, barely, and made sure Punahou didn't do the same in winning yesterday's Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship game 1-0 at Mid-Pacific field.
"I'm much happier today than Monday," said Warriors coach Ty Sing Chow, referring to his team's 2-0 loss to the Buffanblu in a game that set up yesterday's title showdown. "We were fortunate to keep a top-notch Punahou team off the bases, and when they did get on the bases, we had two pickoffs that turned out to be huge for us."
Daring baserunning led to Punahou's win Monday. Yesterday, the Buffanblu gambled on the basepaths again, but didn't collect any payoff.
Lindsay Fujita, who scored Monday's winning run from first base on a throwing error, learned early yesterday that the Kamehameha defense was fully prepared. She led the game off by ripping what appeared to be a single to right, only to be thrown out at first by outfielder Lena Nahale.
Warriors catcher Kaulana Gould cut short two Punahou rallies by throwing out runners trying to steal second, including speedy Rachel Kane.
Kamehameha pitcher Brandi Peiler fanned nine and finished with a four-hitter. The Buffanblu's Sarah Weisskopf baffled the Warrior batters, firing a one-hitter in the tough-luck loss. She set Kamehameha down 1-2-3 in the last four innings.
"We knew they (the Warriors) were going to come hard," said Weisskopf, who was one of several Buffanblu players overcome with emotion after the game. "We did the best we could and we didn't hold back."
The strong pitching and sparkling defense ruled most of the day, but the outcome boiled down to one costly Punahou error.
Kamehameha shortstop Sharee Fonoti led off the bottom of the second with a walk and took second on Nicole Kalakau's sacrifice bunt. Fonoti scampered into third on the play when second baseman Fujita -- who made the forceout at first -- threw into left in an attempt to get Fonoti at second.
With the Punahou infield in, Nahale hit a pop-up that Fujita caught going back. Fonoti tagged up, racing home with the winning run.
"I'm just glad the team put it together today," Fonoti said. "We knew what we wanted and we played all out to get it. We were mad after Monday and we wanted to get back at them, to get revenge and the upper hand."
Liane Horiuchi had Kamehameha's only hit, a first-inning single to center.
Cristen Aona collected two of Punahou's four hits, but no Buffanblu runner made it to second base safely.
"It's not over," Punahou coach Kristl Okuhara Chinen said, referring to the team's appearance at next week's state tournament. "For the last two weeks, almost every game has been do or die. Our journey is close to an end, so the girls are emotional because they felt they could have won today.
"I teach them to be aggressive because I'd much rather have them make a mistake by going all out rather than by not trying hard enough. They played with a lot of fire and courage and I commend them for it. It's not something you can go out and buy at Longs Drug Store. And, hey, that was no junk team we lost to."
Peiler allowed a sharp single to Kane in the sixth and avoided trouble when center fielder Napua Naumu was stationed in the right place to catch Fujita's deep drive.
"I put trust in our defense to play strong, both mentally and physically," Peiler said. "They back me up no matter what."
With two out in the seventh, Aona lined a single to right, bringing the power-hitting Weisskopf to the plate. She let a letter-high fastball go by and took a called strike before grounding out to end the game.
"Brandi Peiler pitched a great game," Weisskopf said. "But I wish I could go back and swing at that first pitch. That's the one I wanted."
OIA quarterfinals
Castle 4, Kapolei 1:Lia Pedrina and Anuhea Young combined on a five-hitter to lead the Knights past the Hurricanes.Pedrina also pulled through with a two-run single for the Knights in the fourth inning.
Sachelle Featheran gave Castle a 2-0 lead with a two-run double in the bottom of the first.
Kapolei's only run came in the fourth on Malama Manuma's fourth-inning solo homer.
"We kind of came together today," Knights coach Jon Berinobis said. "We played the way we practiced. The girls carried out the game plan and came through real good."
Castle (9-1) qualified for the state tournament and advanced to the semifinals today at 3:30 at Mililani.
"For the rest of the tournament and into the states, there's going to be a lot of quality pitchers," Berinobis said.
"Today we bunted quite a bit, and I think you'll see a lot of teams doing that more often now. And speed will be a factor, getting on base and making things happen."
Kapolei (9-3) hosts Moanalua today at 3:30 in a consolation bracket game.
Tatia Acierto and Jasmine Yoro; Lia Pedrina, Anuhea Young (5) and Young, Kristen Uza (5).
At Castle H.S. field
Kapolei 000 100 0 -- 1 5 1 Castle 200 200 x -- 4 7 1
Leading hitters--Cas: Puna Waiolama 2-3; Sachelle Featheran 1-3, 2 RBIs. Kap: Malama Manuma 1-3, HR; Yoro 2-3.
Kailua 3, Pearl City 0: Courtney Kessell's four-hitter helped push the Surfriders past the Chargers.Tanisha Milca's two-run double in the second inning gave Kailua an early lead.
Krystal Plunkett led the Pearl City attack with two doubles.
Kailua (11-0) hosts Leilehua in a 3:30 semifinal today.
"We're playing well," Kailua coach Bernard Victor said. "We didn't hit that well, but just enough to win."
Kessell had nine strikeouts.
"Only one of our players struck out,"Victor added. "And we're playing good defense. As the tournament winds down and in the states, pitchers are going to be holding teams down and teams that get one or two runs across are going to take it."
Pearl City (7-4) visits Waianae in a consolation game today at 3:30.
Krystal Plunkett and Stacy Sakata; Courtney Kessell and Kainoa Hughes.
At Kailua H.S. field
Pearl City 000 000 0 -- 0 4 0 Kailua 020 100 x -- 3 6 0
Leading hitters--PC: Plunkett 2-3, 2 2bs; Kail: Tanisha Milca 1-2, 2b, 2 RBIs.
Mililani 5, Moanalua 0: Miki Asamura didn't walk a batter and finished with a one-hitter for the Trojans.Asamura also struck out 11 Menehune batters.
Charity Senas socked a two-run homer for Mililani in the fifth inning.
The Trojans (11-0) qualified for states and advanced to the semifinals at home against Castle today at 3:30.
Moanalua dropped to 8-4.
Mika Tanji and Jazminn Yamamoto; Miki Asamura and Erika Au. W--Asamura. L--Tanji.
At Mililani H.S. Field
Moanalua 000 000 0 -- 0 1 1 Mililani 102 020 x -- 5 6 1
Leading hitters--Mili: Charity Senas 2-3, 2-run HR; Asamura 2-3.
Leilehua 2, Waianae 1: The Mules rode the four-hit pitching of Alexis San Nicolas to upset the Seariders.Pikake Nutter-Gaudet hit an RBI double in the third for Leilehua. She later scored on an error.
Waianae (8-3) pulled within a run in the last inning as Tracy Kane led off with a single and eventually scored on a fielder's choice.
The tying run for the Seariders was on first with one out when Leilani Faavesi hit a scorching liner to left that was snagged by Mules left fielder Jamie Kim. San Nicolas then got a ground ball out to end the game.
Leilehua (8-4) qualified for states and advanced to the tournament semifinals.
Alexis San Nicolas and Pikake Nutter-Gaudet; Tracy Kane and Shaylla Moses. W--San Nicolas. L--Kane.
At Waianae H.S. Field
Leilehua 002 000 0 -- 2 7 1 Waianae 000 000 1 -- 1 4 3
Leading hitters--Lei: San Nicolas 2-3; Nutter-Gaudet 2b; Shyann Freitas 2b.
