Not even a freeway fender-bender can stop the red-hot Castle Knights.

Boosted by the pitching and power hitting of junior Leisha Liilii, eighth-ranked Castle upset No. 1 Campbell 8-4 last night in the semifinal round of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Conference playoffs.

“;A car hit us on the H-1 merging from Moanalua Freeway,”; Knights coach Jon Berinobis said of their pregame drive from Kaneohe to Patsy Mink Central Oahu Regional Park.

After a 35-minute wait, the team boarded another bus and arrived at the field behind schedule.

“;They were OK. It just shortened up their warm-up time. They were focused. This is one of their goals, to win the (OIA) championship,”; Berinobis said.

Liilii mixed curveballs and screwballs to keep the Sabers off-balance.

“;Aah, Castle kicked our ass today,”; Campbell coach David Perreira said after his team dropped to 13-1. “;It's the same thing as last year. They beat us in the playoffs. Hopefully, we learn from it. We didn't make the big plays. Liilii clutched up.”;

Both teams have already qualified for the state tournament. Six teams in all will represent the OIA.

A spirited crowd saw Liilii, a 6-foot left-hander, stifle the previously unbeaten Sabers for five innings. Campbell managed to score four unearned runs in the fifth, benefiting from two Castle errors. However, Maycee Moi hurled two scoreless innings in relief, and Liilii's two-run homer to center in the top of the seventh sealed the win for Castle (11-3).

“;I wasn't looking for a home run. I just wanted to advance the runner,”; Liilii said.

Castle jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first against Campbell ace Katie Manuma. A throwing error by third baseman Gerika Pantohan with two outs helped the Knights.

They added two more runs in the fifth on a bad-hop single by Alyssa Cypriano for a 6-0 lead.

That's when Castle fielding miscues gave Campbell a break. Manuma's slicing double to the right-field corner brought home two runs and cut the lead to 6-4.

“;I knew it wasn't going to be a perfect game, but I knew my defense would back me up,”; Liilii said.

Liilii took advantage of a mistake by Campbell relief pitcher Sharae Esprecion, drilling a 3-1 pitch over the center-field fence, after it fell out of the glove of the center fielder.

“;We wanted her to throw it inside,”; Perreira said of the fastball.

It was the unusual case of a team that lost early in the season (to Kahuku) and endured some bumps along the road before peaking in the postseason.

“;We've managed to bounce back,”; said Moi, a junior. “;Losing can break you, but it made us stronger and work harder at practice. We had our goal set and this is exactly where we want to be.”;

Mililani 7, Kapolei 3

Kristi Oshiro scored the tying run in the bottom of the fifth inning, then singled in Amelia Ariola for the go-ahead run in the sixth as the fifth-ranked Trojans rallied for the win.

Oshiro's hit sparked a five-run sixth inning by Mililani, ending a stellar pitching effort by Kapolei's Winona Pauline.

With the game tied at 2, the Trojans got a double by Alysia Maddison to start the sixth inning, then got singles by Kacie Oshiro and Kristi Oshiro to tie the game. Rebecca Lee and Courtney Senas followed with run-scoring singles, and Andi Felise's opposite-field two-run double broke the game open for the Trojans.

Maddison went the distance for the win.

Dorian Acierto, who gave Kapolei a 1-0 lead with a double and scored on a fielding error on the same play in the third, led Kapolei with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate.