Troubadours trip up
Konawaena

After a 22-hour delay, the Saint Francis softball team came back to the Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium and finished off Konawaena in the second semifinal of the HHSAA Division II tournament yesterday, 7-2.

The Troubadours were leading the Wildcats 5-0 Friday night when play was stopped in the top of the fifth inning due to rain. When the downpour continued for the next hour, the game was postponed a day.

When the teams returned to the rain-soaked field, both coaches had to get their players back into the game. Saint Francis coach Mark Glushenko said a small concern for him was the status of pitcher Brittany Akana.

"She took care of her arm last night, she said it was strong," Glushenko said.

Akana sailed through the bottom of the fifth, allowing a hit but striking out two batters.

Another player who continued to produce for the Troubadours was shortstop Anita Manuma. The 5-foot-8 junior went on a streak Friday, going 3-for-3 in the first five innings. Yesterday, Manuma completed the perfect game, banging a high bouncer up the middle in the seventh.

"I just wanted to pound that ball. I really, really wanted it," Manuma said of her first at-bat. "When I went up the second time, I tried to learn from the first time. So every time I went up to the batter's box, I just wanted more."

"She's a spark plug," Glushenko said. "When she gets going, the team is automatically on fire. She's the leader of the team."

The Troubadours made the most of Wildcat errors early in the sixth inning. Jovan Hire hit a bouncer to the shortstop, who stared down Jandee Taira at second base, then threw to first. The throw was too late, and Hire reached base safely. Taira moved to third on the play. As Wildcat first baseman Leesa Deniz tried to throw out Taira, Hire ran to second. Wildcat third baseman Tracee Iranon then threw an errant ball to second, allowing Taira to score.

"Unfortunately, defensively we didn't show up as well as we should have, and Saint Francis took advantage," said Konawaena coach Damon Yoshida, whose team committed four errors.

Taira then drove in a run in the seventh. She finished the game 2-for-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, freshman Alisha Sakamoto took over for Akana in the circle. Sakamoto allowed two hits and two runs in the frame as the Wildcats broke up the shutout.

"We tried to get some of the girls some at-bats just for experience, and they enjoyed it," Yoshida said. "They're still very upbeat about the whole experience."

Manuma will go up against a familiar face when the Troubadours play the OIA champion Waipahu Marauders in the Division II final tomorrow at 6 p.m. Manuma's calabash cousin Tina Noga, Waipahu's power pitcher, struck out 12 batters in Friday's semifinal against Kamehameha-Maui.