By MATT GERHART
By MATT GERHART
Tribune-Herald sports writer
KEAAU — Amid an emotional postgame celebration Thursday, Hilo stressed things such as fundamentals, teamwork and patience.
Under the direction of third-year coach Leo Sing Chow, the Vikings have been saying things like that for a while — and largely because of it — now Hilo can talk about a championship.
The Vikings scratched their way to three big innings and senior ace Ashlyn Kaneshiro regained her composure in the circle as Hilo beat Keaau 10-4 for its first Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I softball title since 2006.
“Our girls just brough the intensity and confidence,” Sing Chow said. “We told them to leave their heart on the field and go for everything and they did that. They played hard and they stuck together.”
The Vikings (13-4) also locked down their first berth at the Hawaii High School Athletic Association tournament in three seasons. This will be Sing Chow’s first appearance at states as a coach, but she’s been there as a player, pitching Kamehameha-Kapalama to the state championship in 2002.
“It’s a different feeling, but it feels just as good,” she said.
Kaneshiro and Keaau freshman starter Lohi Kamakea-Wong pitched their teams into the final with stellar performances in Tuesday’s semifinals, but they both went through rocky first innings in the championship game.
Hurt by six errors, the Cougars (12-5) fell short in their bid for their first BIIF title, but they still can lock down their first state berth since 2004 when they host Moanalua, the Oahu Interscholastic Association’s sixth-place team, in a play-in game at 10 a.m. Saturday
“It’s going to hurt for an hour, but we’ll be all right,” William “Boy” Wong said. “I told the team earlier today that the team that makes the less mistakes is going to win. Sure enough, I was right.”
Seven different players accounted for Hilo’s eight hits and eight Vikings drove in at least one run. Sophomore catcher Aliesa Kaneshiro put her team ahead ahead for good with a run-scoring triple in the fourth and finished with two RBIs.
“Everybody did their job today, that’s what it was,” said junior shortstop Fantacie Keahilihau-Kuamoo.
She was 2 for 3 with an RBI single in the fourth that gave her team a 6-4 lead, and for the second consecutive playoff game Hilo beat a team that had bested it twice during the regular season.
“We’ve improved a lot: small-ball, big ball, everything. Defensively, offensively, we worked as a team today,” she said.
The Vikings scored three runs in the first, fourth and fifth innings, and each time Hilo started its rally with a walk then fueled the fire with bunts.
In the top of the first, Shyanne Higa-Gonsalves walked and the next three hitters laid down bunts as Hilo scored a run and loaded the bases with nobody out. Caitlyn Price and Tracee Fukunaga added run-scoring hits.
“(Small-ball’s) been our philosophy the past couple of weeks and it’s been working,” Sing Chow said. “We try to make things happen, put the ball in play and put people in scoring position. We adjusted with the girls when the bats got quiet (in midseason), and we decided to change it and give it a shot with small-ball.”
Keaau’s Cassie Ramos-Fujimoto was 2 for 4, including a two-run single in the first that tied the game 3-3. Chelsey Pacatang-Hirai contributed an RBI single in the first and sacrifice fly that put Keaau ahead 4-3 in the second inning.
Hilo designated player Raven Hall and Keaau catcher Aiyanna Silva were both ejected in the top of the third after they had to be separated when they collided after Silva fielded Hall’s bunt attempt in front of the plate.
“The incident took a lot out of us,” Wong said.
If Keaau lost its edge, Ashlyn Kaneshiro was just getting hers back.
After Keaau took the lead, she retired eight of the next nine hitters before calmly pitching out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the fifth.
She credited a midgame talk with her mother with helping her calm her jitters and find the form she showed Tuesday when threw a three-hit shutout to beat Waiakea.
“I’ve never felt like how I felt at the beginning of the game, then my mom came to talk to me and she told me she wanted to to see how I played against Waiakea,” Kaneshiro said. “It just brought me back.”
She struck out just two batters but relied on a sure-handed defense — particularly infielders Price, Higa-Gonsalves, Keahilihau-Kuamoo and Seimi Nau — that committed just one error. Higa-Gonsalves handled all six of her chances cleanly at second base.
Kaneshiro allowed 11 hits — five in the first — three earned runs and just one walk in a compete game.
“(My defense) is always there for me,” Kaneshiro said. “They have their days and they make their mistakes, we all do. But they’re there when I really need them. That’s what counts.”
Momi Cariaga relieved Kamakea-Wong in the fifth, but the first three batters reached on a walk, an error and a hit batter, prompting the Cougars’ coach to bring Kamakea-Wong back in the game.
Hilo padded its lead to 9-4 on run-scoring singles by Reisha Hoopi-Haslam and Higa-Gonsalves, and Aliesa Kaneshiro added a sacrifice fly.
In seven innings, Kamakea-Wong struck out two, yielding eight hits, six runs —three earned — with two walks.
“Lohi pitched fine, but the defense wasn’t good,” William Wong said.
Rylann Hacoba and Shaniya Kamakea-Wong each had two hits for Keaau.
Ashlyn Kaneshiro retired the last eight Cougars she faced to clinch a championship that Hilo’s players are likely to enjoy for awhile before they think about states.
“Coach doesn’t like us to worry about things ahead, just take it day by day,” said Keahilihau-Kuamoo, who ranged into the outfield to catch the final out. “We worry about what’s happening now and not what’s happening later.”
Hilo 300 331 0 — 10 8 1
Keaau 310 000 0 — 4 11 6