STAR-BULLETIN / 2007 Kate Robinson leaves UH as the Rainbow Wahine's all-time home run leader and staff ace.

Wahine softball team must reload for ’09

In the wake of a season-ending loss in the NCAA tournament, taking the next step took on different meanings for members of the Hawaii softball team.

"It has settled in knowing I'm not going to be going to summer workouts and the season's over and I have to start a real life now," senior center fielder Kaulana Gould said.

For the rest, the end of one season soon brings thoughts of the next.

"We'll be pretty much starting in June to train for next year," junior Tanisha Milca said. "There's a lot of determination, there's a big senior class next year and we all want to go out with a bang."

The class of 2008 -- Gould, Valana Manuma, Jessica Morton, Brandi Peiler and Kate Robinson -- left quite an imprint on the program as they helped lead UH to back-to-back postseason berths.

Robinson embarked on her professional softball career with the Akron Racers as UH's all-time home run leader and anchored the pitching staff this season. Her sister, Moanalua standout Sarah Robinson, is among the team's incoming class of freshmen looking to help continue the program's run of postseason appearances next spring.

RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM With Kate Robinson completing her eligibility, Hawaii loses its winningest pitcher and top hitter. Robinson batted .378 with 21 home runs this season.

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"Next year" would have to wait ... at least for a few days.

With the softball season keeping his engine revving since the fall, Hawaii coach Bob Coolen returned to Honolulu on Monday night looking to downshift a bit.

"Right now is just a time of trying to get over the emotional roller coaster," Coolen said after returning from Arizona, where the Rainbow Wahine reached the final round of the Tempe regional before being eliminated by Arizona State on Sunday.

"We'll just relax and enjoy family time."

Soon enough Coolen's focus will turn to building on a 40-21 season capped by a second straight trip to the postseason.

Following a landmark 2007 season that ended one win shy of the Women's College World Series, the Wahine faced heightened expectations this season.

After third-place finishes in the Western Athletic Conference's regular season and tournament, the Wahine braced for disappointment when the NCAA tournament field was announced. But they earned a spot in the Tempe regional, where they reached the final round before running into the second-ranked Sun Devils.

"Our expectations were a little higher and we wanted to go a littler further, but overall we had a pretty good season," said center fielder Kaulana Gould, one of five seniors who closed their careers on Sunday.

Gould, the first UH player to be named to the All-WAC first team four times, was part of a class that helped lead the Wahine to 91 wins the last two seasons and elevated the program's national profile.

Kate Robinson led the Wahine with a .378 batting average and drove in 55 runs and leaves the program as its all-time home run leader with 44 after belting a single-season record 21 this spring.

Brandi Peiler finished second on the team at .349 and Valana Manuma provided a steady hand at shortstop.

Robinson also shouldered the pitching load, going 18-10 in 32 starts with a 2.34 earned-run average. She started UH's last 10 games after a shoulder injury sidelined junior Courtney Baughman (14-8) late in the season. Jessica Morton thrived in her role out of the bullpen, going 17-4 in her junior and senior seasons.

"Individually, I think we all had great careers at UH," Gould said, "and collectively it was even better,"

Robinson didn't accompany the team back home after the regional. She instead headed directly to Ohio to begin her professional career as a member of the Akron Racers of National Pro Fastpitch.

Gould will be back at UH next season as an undergraduate assistant, working with a team looking to fill sizable holes in the lineup and in the pitcher's circle as the Wahine look to string together three postseason appearances for the first time in the program's history.

Right fielder Tanisha Milca (.330) and third baseman Clare Warwick (.320) lead the list of returnees. Catcher Katie Grimes, second baseman Richie-Anne Titcomb and first baseman Audrey Andrade also return. Junior Julie Franklin could be in line to step in at shortstop.

"The senior class left some really big shoes to fill, but we have a pretty big (returning senior) class, so I think we're ready to go," Milca said. "We all have a little taste of the postseason and now we have to roll with that for next season."

Pitching will be the biggest question mark heading into 2009. Coolen hopes to have a better idea of Baughman's long-range prognosis in a week or so, but he won't know until the fall whether Justine Smethurst will return for her junior year.

Smethurst, who went 19-9 in 2007, took a year off from school and will play for Australia in the Olympics later this summer. Other than Robinson, Morton and Baughman, freshman Melissa Gonzalez was the only other pitcher to see action with five appearances.

The Wahine expect to have some young arms joining the program next season. Moanalua's Sarah Robinson -- Kate's sister -- is among five incoming freshmen who signed with UH. Other freshmen are Kamehameha infielder Dara Pagaduan and California prep standouts Kell Majam (pitcher/outfielder), Stephanie Ricketts (pitcher/first baseman) and Alexandra Aguirre (catcher/ outfielder).