Waiakea did its part, and now it will to see if the Keaau Cougars can do theirs. ADVERTISING Waiakea did its part, and now it will to see if the Keaau Cougars can do theirs. The Warriors beat Honokaa 11-1
Waiakea did its part, and now it will to see if the Keaau Cougars can do theirs.
The Warriors beat Honokaa 11-1 on Saturday at their field, and their fifth victory in a row secured home field in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division I softball semifinals.
Alyssa Hara allowed five hits in a five-inning complete game and Kristi Hirata belted an RBI triple for Waiakea (7-3), which can earn the top seed if the Cougars lose at home against either Hawaii Prep on Monday or undefeated Kamehameha on Tuesday.
It’s feast or famine for Keaau (6-2). Two wins earns the Cougars and automatic HHSAA berth, but a loss sends Keaau on the road in the BIIF semifinals as the third seed and gives Hilo (7-3) home field in the other semifinal. The Vikings beat Kealakehe 9-7 on Saturday.
As no worse than the No. 2 seed, the Warriors know they will play at home Friday in a doubleheader to begin the best-of-three semifinals. Taylor Nishimura was 2 for 3 and drove in a run to support Hara, who walked two and struck out three.
Kayla Requelman walked six batters in 2 2/3 innings and took the loss for the Dragons (5-5) and Karly Requelman was 2 for 2 with an RBI single.
Honokaa heads to Kohala (6-4) on Friday in the Division II semifinals.
Honokaa 000 1 0 – 1 5 2
Kealakehe 243 1 1 – 11 6 1
Kamehameha 14, Kohala 0: Mykala Tokunaga pitched a five-inning no-hitter with nine strikeouts, Taylor Sullivan slammed two home runs, and the host Warriors moved one victory away from their first unbeaten regular season.
Sullivan finished with seven RBIs, and Kiarra Lincoln, Kekai Wong Yuen and Kaila Kaaihue also finished with two hits.
The only blemishes for Tokunaga, the two-time Division II Player of the Year, were a pair of walks.
After finishing with the Cougars on Tuesday, Kamehameha welcomes fourth-seeded Konawaena (5-5) on Friday in the semifinals.
Jurnee Keawe took the loss for the Cowgirls, who’s first three defeats were by a combined four runs.
Kohala 000 00 – 0 0 1
Kamehameha 317 3x – 14 10 0
Hilo 9, Kealakehe 7: Zoe Cabarloc worked around Vikings’ fielding miscues over six innings and finished 3 for 3, Caitlyn Price hit a two-run triple and Hilo relegated the visiting Waveriders (5-5) to the fourth seed in Division I.
Hilo came up with enough offense to offset nine errors. Shalyn Guthier had two runs-scoring singles and finished with three RBIs, Cabarloc doubled and scored twice, and Patricia Marcus was 2 for 3.
Cabarloc was charged with seven runs, all unearned, and seven hits with three walks and a strikeout. Cabarloc walked the first two batters in the seventh, but Samantha Saltiban retired three in a row with a strikeout to get the save.
Tavian Taketa struck out seven for Kealakehe but was touched for nine runs, six earned, on nine hits and four walks. Two of Leisha Nakagawa’s three hits were doubles.
Kealakehe 111 004 0 – 7 7 3
Hilo 104 400 – 9 9 9
Konawaena 11, Ka’u 1: Bethany Batangan homered to lead off the bottom of the first, Teizha Kaluna pitched five strong innings and the Wildcats scored in every inning of the TKO to even their record heading to the postseason.
Kiersen Kawehi Kahele hit two doubles for Konawaena, including two-bagger in the second that brought home two runners, and Jayssa Asuncion-Grace (2 for 3) also had a two-run double.
Kaluna allowed only one hit, striking out two and walking two.
Sheri Freitas pitched all 4 2/3 innings for the Trojans (2-8), and she drove in a run with a groundout after Kehaulani Ke tripled.
Freitas was hurt by eight Ka’u errors that led to eight unearned runs. She walked three and struck out three.
Ka’u 000 10 – 1 1 8
Konawaena 341 12 – 11 11 1
