By MATT GERHART
By MATT GERHART
Hawaii Tribune-Herald
HONOKAA — Strange as it may seem, wins against Division I teams Hilo and Waiakea might not have been the best things that could have happened to Konawaena’s softball team.
Sophomore Sierra Amor thinks the victories might have gone to the Wildcats’ heads.
The reset button was hit by the coaches at a recent practice, and the players responded again and again in the clutch to ensure a result that will go down as the best thing to happen to Konawaena so far this season.
The Wildcats produced one two-out rally after another Wednesday, holding off Honokaa 8-7 in a well-played BIIF third-place game to secure their third consecutive trip to the HHSAA Division II tournament.
Amor, who delivered a key two-out hit in the sixth that brought in two runs, and Teizha Kaluna, who was 3 for 3 and pitched the final three innings to pick up the save, each used the word “slow” to describe a midseason lull for the Wildcats (6-7), who entered having lost 4 of 6.
“We just kind of thought we could beat anybody,” Amor said. “We kind of had too much excitement.
“Our coaches had to knock some sense into us.”
And the Wildcats promptly started knocking the ball around Honokaa Park, especially in pressure situations. Konawaena scored seven of its runs with two outs.
“An up-and-down season, but I think it was a matter of finding focus and making this game count,” coach Shellie Grace said.
With two outs in the second, Kaimana-Joy Manzano put Konawena on the board with a two-run double and Lihue Wessel’s run-scoring triple helped the Wildcats to a 4-1 lead. Bethany Batangan, who pitched the first four innings to pick up the victory, extended the fifth with a hit and Kiersen Kawehi Kahele (3 for 5, triple) knocked in an insurance run with a single.
“Our communication was really good today,” Kaluna said. “Our cheers were good, just a lot of talk.”
Not surprisingly, by the seventh Konawaena’s favorite chant was “Two-out rally!”
The Dragons (5-8) lost at home in the third-place game for the third consecutive season.
“We couldn’t get that third out, that’s what killed us,” Honokaa coach Wesley Fujimoto said.
He could spend the next few days lamenting a couple of unorthodox double plays on hard hit balls at third base that ended threats in the fourth and the sixth.
Karly Requelman (2 for 4) hit two-run single in the sixth to get the Dragons within 8-7, but Kaluna stranded the tying run at second to end the game.
In her final high school game, Kayla Requelman stroked a pair of doubles among her three hits and drove in a run. Honokaa’s only other senior, Zarina Hasegawa, also had two hits, as did Keesha Matsuoka.
“Young team; good season,” Fujimoto said.
Batangan struck out out one and walked two. In 5 1/3 innings, Matsuoka walked five and was charged with all eight runs in defeat.
As Batangan gets set for her third go-around at states, this will be the first Amor, a sophomore.
She took a good measure of the pulse of the Wildcats.
“It’s a lot of pressure to hit with two outs, but I guess that was a good thing today,” she said. “The last hits just came easy.”
Konawaena 004 022 0 – 8 14 2
Honokaa 012 013 0 – 7 12 0