By: Wes Nakama
MILILANI — The OIA West traditionally is one of the state’s toughest softball divisions, and this year it was especially expected to be so.
But Campbell is making it look easier than it really is, improving to 5-0 after an 11-3 rout at Mililani (3-2) Tuesday afternoon. This followed a surprising 7-0 shutout over upstart Wai’anae (4-1) last Saturday.
“We’re just hungry to play,” Sabers coach Michael Hermosura said. “The pitchers are working hard, the fielders are working hard, the coaches are working hard … the program has always been great, we’ve always worked hard. We push, we shout, scream and yell at practice, but at the game we just have fun.”
Campbell wasted no time starting the fun on Tuesday, jumping to a 5-0 run in the first inning on three hits, three walks, one error and a hit batter.
The Sabers made it 6-0 in the top of the third on Quinn Waiki’s run-scoring single to right field, then added four runs in the fourth on four hits and a walk, highlighted by Sophia Alo’s RBI double to left-center, a two-run single by Kaiana Kong and Waiki’s RBI single to take a stunning 10-0 lead.
“Campbell’s a very good team, I think they’re one of the best in the state,” Trojans coach Rose Antonio said. “We’re young, and our pitching is not as powerful as before, like in previous years. But we need to take care of the game in other ways, playing defense, put the ball in play and manufacture runs.”
Mililani finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth, after Kamryn Aoki and Kolbi Kochi led off with back-to-back singles and came home on Ui Garcia’s three-run homer over the left field fence. Garcia, a junior designated hitter, drew a 3-2 count and then fouled off at least five pitches before finally squaring off on an outside fastball.
“I was pretty much just trying to get her to not hit it that hard,” said Sabers pitcher Taryn Irimata, a senior right-hander who signed a National Letter of Intent with Nevada. “But she did, she pulled the outside pitch. We mixed it up, but she’s just a good hitter.”
Irimata quickly got back on track, retiring nine of the next 13 batters, and finished with six strikeouts while allowing seven hits and only one walk.
She also got help from her defense, which played errorless and made several nifty plays, including Kong robbing Taryn Hirano of a home run by catching the deep fly ball with her glove arm hanging over the center field fence in the fifth inning.
“We practice with the fence, we know how to communicate, because communication is a big thing,” Hermosura said. “Because of the way Taryn throws, I expect a lot of late swings so I put my best fielder (Kong) in right field. But I could see (Irimata) was kind of laboring, so I thought I better move ‘Ana (to center) because they were starting to go up the middle and pull the ball. I’m glad we did that … it paid off.”
Kong also ended the game by snagging another deep drive by Hirano in center field for the final out.
Waiki led Campbell’s offense by going 3 for 4 with three RBIs, Alo went 3 for 5 with the double and two RBIs, Nanea Pantatisco went 2 for 4 with a run-scoring double, and Leia Duropan finished 2 for 5. Cairah Curran also had a double.
Garcia went 2 for 3 with the three-run homer to lead the Trojans.
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Photos: Jonathan Salvador
