The end came a bit too soon, or maybe it was that the start was too fast for the University of Hawaii at Hilo softball team.
The Vulcans, 17-9 in the Pacific West Conference and 28-17 overall, play their last four games of the season Friday and Saturday on their home field against Chaminade (6-22; 11-33) and Hawaii Pacific (12-16; 16-30), in the second year for coach Peejay Brun who had her team on the edge of the playoffs both seasons.
“We won’t make it this year,” Brun said in her office this week. “I kind of expected it a week ago when we fell out of the (regional) rankings. We ran out of games against the teams we needed to play to get into it.”
Her team lost six seniors from a 2015 squad that supplied an excess of experience and leadership the team lacked this season with just three seniors on the roster, but a sweep of this weekend games would give the Vulcans a better record in conference and overall than was achieved last year.
“This team has to play and compete to very end,” Brun said, “it’s something we’ve been talking about, working toward and here we have our last four games. I want to see how hard they will work for it, how much fight is left in them.”
That last part is something Brun felt the team lacked just a bit in some games.
“I never felt they quit, it wasn’t that at all,” she said, “but there were some games — the middle of some games — where I wanted to see more of a ‘dig down and finish strong’ type of reaction that wasn’t always there.
“I feel like our lack of experience with this roster was an issue in that regard,” Brun said. “We have three seniors (Brittany Huff, Angela Aguinaga and Brandi Wilson), who are each kind of quiet players and they got shoved into a more vocal, leadership role that in some cases, just wasn’t them. Not everyone is like that and on a team you need a good mix of personalities, but it was tough for them to suddenly be in this new role.”
They were all involved, beginning to end. Huff started all 42 games she played in, Aguinaga started 44 times, Wilson 40.
“All three of them have come a long way,” Brun said, “we certainly needed them and it’s always tough to see players go, but it’s the nature of the game, you have to be looking ahead, always.”
In that regard, Brun has a good core of players returning, maybe enough to push them up a notch or two and get into the playoffs next season.
“We want our identity to be a playoff team, one that is always there or at the very least competing for it right to the end. I think we’re closer, but I want to see how we finish this weekend, what kind of intensity we take into these last two (doubleheaders).”
Friday’s games will be played in the inaugural Strike Out Cancer Day, something Brun had been involved in previously at Texas State and something she wants to promote and build on for the future.
“We all know someone touched by cancer, in our family, our friends, it’s something we can help out, just by increasing awareness this first year, but by next year, we will pick out a specific cancer and do a lot more.”
First, comes the final four games.
